DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent estimate he has made of the average annual cost, including salary, of the posting of  (a) a private soldier and  (b) a civil servant in his Department to (i) Kabul and (ii) Helmand province.

John Hutton: holding answer 27 January 2009
	No such recent estimate has been made. Calculating the cost of posting a private soldier and a civil servant on Operations would involve collating data from various sources across the Department at disproportionate cost.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many helicopters have been made available to NATO forces in Afghanistan in the last six months.

John Hutton: I am withholding detailed information on the number of helicopters deployed to Afghanistan as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of unexploded land mines in Afghanistan; and what steps the Government are taking to help remove them.

Bob Ainsworth: There is no single reliable estimate of the total number of unexploded land mines within the sovereign territory of Afghanistan. The HALO Trust estimates that up to 640,000 mines were laid from 1979 until 1999, which saw the entry into force of the Ottawa convention.
	DFID is providing around £10.6 million to the HALO Trust over five years (2008-13) to clear land mines and unexploded ordnance in Herat province (western Afghanistan). In addition, as part of the UK's annual commitment of £10 million p.a. to de-mining across the world, the HALO Trust receives £3 million p.a. Of this, it is expected to commit around £150,000 to de-mining work in central and northern Afghanistan this year.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers serving in Afghanistan since Operation Herrick began have returned from Afghanistan as a  (a) single and  (b) multiple amputee; and if he will make a statement.

Kevan Jones: holding answer 3 March 2009
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend, the Defence Secretary gave to the hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) on 16 December 2008,  Official Report, column 554W.
	We are currently reviewing the available information concerning amputations which have occurred as a result of Operation Herrick, while ensuring that patient confidentiality is maintained. I will write to the hon. Member with the results of this review.

Ballistic Missile Defence

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether work is being carried out in the United Kingdom to support the development of a Next Generation Fuze for US inter-continental ballistic missiles.

John Hutton: Technical exchanges are carried out on a regular basis under the auspices of the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement on a range of issues of joint interest and of relevance to the safety, security and reliability of our respective nuclear stockpiles. They are also being undertaken to support the examination of the optimum life of the UK's existing nuclear warhead and the range of replacement options that might be available to inform decisions, likely to be necessary in the next Parliament, on whether and how we may need to refurbish or replace the existing warhead. I am withholding details of the precise nature of this work in the interests of national security.

Departmental Art Works

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which works of art from the Government Art Collection each Minister in his Department has selected for display in a private office.

Kevan Jones: I have four works of art from the Government Art Collection (GAC) on display in my private office. They are:
	'Gunner Paul March (Canadian Forces)' by Henry Lamb
	'A Merchantman at Catania' by Bernard Hailstone
	'Dust in Normandy, August 1944' by Stephen Bone
	'The Southwest Prospect of the City of Durham' by Samuel and Nathaniel Buck
	No other Ministers have art from the GAC on display in their private offices.

Departmental Pay

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his Department's current salary bill is.

Kevan Jones: The MOD's staff costs are:
	
		
			  £ billion 
			   2007-08  2006-07 
			 Salaries and wages 8.9 8.7 
			 Social security costs 0.6 0.6 
			 Pension costs 1.8 1.8 
			 Redundancy and severance payments 0.1 0.1 
			 Made up of:   
			 Service 8.6 8.4 
			 Civilian 2.8 2.8 
		
	
	This information is published in the MOD's Annual Report and Accounts, copies of which are available in the Library of the House, and also on line at:
	http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/AnnualReports/MODAnnualReports0708/

Nuclear Submarines

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2009,  Official Report, column 17, on the collision of nuclear submarines, when Parliament will be informed of the findings of the inquiry; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: I anticipate that the inquiry into the incident involving HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant will report to me shortly. I will consider what and how to report to Parliament once I have received that report and bearing in mind the need to protect information in the interests of national security.

Warships

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the estimated cost of maintaining a  (a) Type-42 destroyer and  (b) Type-23 frigate is in 2008-09.

Quentin Davies: The cost of maintaining a Type 42 Destroyer in Financial Year 2008-09 has been estimated as £1.2 million while that for a Type 23 Frigate is estimated as £0.9 million. These figures are based on maintenance costs that are typically incurred by these vessels while meeting their operational commitments; they do not include costs incurred for upkeep work, such as refits and docking periods.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Big Lottery Fund: Travelling People

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the Big Lottery Fund has provided for projects to assist Traveller groups since the fund was established; and what projects have been supported by such expenditure.

Barbara Follett: The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) have advised that since their inception in June 2004, £4,756,759 has been awarded to projects which have Anglo-Roma Gypsies and Travellers as their primary beneficiary group.
	Applicants funded by BIG who have Anglo-Roma Gypsies and Travellers as their main beneficiary group are:
	BIG Awards
	An Munia Tober
	Armagh Travellers Support Group
	Brent Irish Advisory Service
	Church of England Children's Society
	Community Development Agency for Hertfordshire
	Craigavon Travellers Support Committee
	Derbyshire Gypsy Liaison Group
	Doncaster CVS
	East Howie Traveller Association
	Forest Bus Ltd
	Friends Families and Travellers
	Gypsy/Traveller Education and Information Project North East
	London Borough of Ealing
	Novas-Ouvertures Group
	Ormiston Children and Families Trust
	Peterborough Citizens Advice Bureau
	Southern Regional College
	Stoke-On-Trent Citizens Advice Bureau
	Surrey Community Action
	The Community Development Company Limited
	The Rural Media Company
	Traveller Space
	Travellers School Charity
	West Oxfordshire Citizens Advice Bureau

Departmental Manpower

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff in his Department working on tourism issues have qualifications in economics; and how many staff in his Department work as economists.

Gerry Sutcliffe: In the Department for Culture, Media and Sport there is one member of staff working on tourism issues who has a qualification in economics: and there are seven staff in the Department who are currently members of the Government Economic Service.

Football: Betting

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions he has had with the Football Association on plans for a pan-European approach to the subject of football match-fixing.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Ministers at the Department meet representatives from the Football Association (FA), as well as a wide variety of other sports bodies, on a regular basis to discuss a number of issues. The general subject of integrity in sports betting has been discussed during those meetings, but the Secretary of State has not met the FA specifically to discuss plans for a cross-Europe approach to the subject of football match-fixing.
	The Government take any allegations relating to the integrity of sport seriously. The Gambling Act 2005 (the Act) introduced tough new penalties to ensure gambling is free from crime and corruption. In particular the Act established the offence of cheating at gambling where any person found guilty faces a maximum prison sentence of two years.

Museums and Galleries: Finance

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much  (a) Sport England,  (b) English Heritage,  (c) the Heritage Lottery Fund,  (d) the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council,  (e) the Big Lottery Fund and  (f) Arts Council England spent on (i) transcripts or recordings, (ii) fees to the Newspaper Licensing Authority and (iii) analysis of press coverage in each of the last three years.

Barbara Follett: We have been advised by the following organisations that spend in each of the areas is as follows:
	
		
			  Organisation   Spend (£) 
			  Sport England   
			 (i) and (iii) 2005-06 51,600 
			  2006-07 55,500 
			  2007-08 55,900 
			 (ii) 2005-06 36,900 
			  2006-07 30,700 
			  2007-08 38,200 
			
			  English Heritage   
			 (i) 2005-06 13,000 
			  2006-07 15,200 
			  2007-08 24,300 
			 (ii) 2005-06 32,800 
			  2006-07 35,000 
			  2007-08 26,000 
			 (iii)  (1)— 
			
			  The Heritage Lottery Fund   
			 (i) 2005-06 1,300 
			  2006-07 2,400 
			  2007-08 2,800 
			 (ii) 2005-06 4,900 
			  2006-07 5,500 
			  2007-08 2,600 
			 (iii) 2005-06 23,500 
			  2006-07 19,400 
			  2007-08 23,500 
			
			  The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council   
			 (i)  (2)— 
			 (ii) 2005-06 0 
			  2006-07 7,100 
			  2007-08 17,700 
			 (iii) 2005-06 11,800 
			  2006-07 40,000 
			  2007-08 44,700 
			
			  Big Lottery Fund   
			 (i) 2005-06 2,600 
			  2006-07 3,300 
			  2007-08 6,600 
			 (ii) 2005-06 4,200 
			  2006-07 9,500 
			  2007-08 10,400 
			 (iii) 2005-06 0 
			  2006-07 0 
			  2007-08 2,100 
			
			  Arts Council England   
			 (i) 2006-07 65,500 
			  2007-08 116,000 
			  2008-09 74,600 
			 (ii) 2006-07 10,400 
			  2007-08 15,300 
			  2008-09 19,500 
			 (iii) 2006-07 8,400 
			  2007-08 25,200 
			  2008-09 27,700 
			 (1 )English Heritage have confirmed that they do not analyse press coverage. (2 )MLA have confirmed that they have not commissioned any transcripts or recordings in this three year period.  Note: Please note that these figures are inclusive of VAT. For consistency, all figures have been rounded up to the nearest £100

Sports: Disabled

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent steps the Government are taking to promote sport for people with a disability.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Sport England has advised that it gave the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) £1.1 million of core funding in 2008-09 for the organisation to promote inclusion and achieve equality of sporting opportunities for disabled people.
	Sport England has been a key partner in the development of the Playground to Podium framework which supports the identification and development of disabled players and athletes. As part of this framework Sport England has recently given £3,066,821 of funding to six National Governing Bodies (NGBs): Athletics (£604,100), Boccia (£56,532), Football (£521,200), Swimming (£721,989), Table Tennis (£569,900), and Wheelchair Basketball (£593,100).
	Sport England is now working with all of the London 2012 Paralympics sports including Boccia, Wheelchair Rugby, and Goal ball to support the recognition of NGBs and the development of stronger infrastructure within these sports. Boccia, Wheelchair Rugby, and Goal ball have been allocated over £1.65 million for the 2009-13 period.
	Each of the 46 sports that have submitted funding applications to Sport England for the 2009-13 period had their submissions assessed on commitment of the sport to developing opportunities for under-represented groups including people with a disability.

Theatre: Concessions

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent steps the Government are taking to promote the free theatre tickets initiative.

Barbara Follett: The Free Theatre Ticket for under 26s Scheme, known as A Night Less Ordinary, which has received widespread media coverage, is managed by Arts Council England. It went 'live' across the country on 16 February 2009 to coincide with spring half-term. Individual theatres participating in the scheme are responsible for marketing their own free theatre ticket offer.
	Arts Council England has agreed a partnership with Metro to help promote the A Night Less Ordinary scheme in newspapers and online.
	There is a dedicated website:
	http://www.anightlessordinary.org.uk/
	where users can find details of local participating theatres and sign up to receive a newsletter providing regular information about the scheme. Between the website's first day of operation on 10 February and 26 February 2009, the website had received over 170,000 visits. 4,500 people had signed up to receive the newsletter. There is also an A Night Less Ordinary Facebook group.

Tourism: South West

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the contribution made by tourism to the economies of  (a) South West England,  (b) Cornwall and  (c) South East Cornwall in the last five years.

Barbara Follett: The South West Regional Development Agency have advised that their estimate of the contribution made by tourism to the economies of  (a) South West England,  (b) Cornwall and  (c) South East Cornwall for 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006, based on the Value of Tourism reports for those years is as follows:
	
		
			  £000 
			  Region  2006  2005  2003  2001 
			 South West 8,940,949 8,874,636 8,007,744 8,846,006 
			 Cornwall 1,621,430 1,524,130 1,535,617 1,639,482 
			 Caradon (S.E. Cornwall) 185,740 173,793 178,348 194,509 
		
	
	2007 district data are being worked on at the moment and should be available shortly.
	Value of Tourism reports were produced every two years up until 2005.

Video Games

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many video games were sold in the UK in each of the last five years.

Barbara Follett: I am advised by the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), who hold this information, of the following numbers of video games sold in the UK in the last five years:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2008 79,165,615 
			 2007 68,359,144 
			 2006 58,846,462 
			 2005 55,170,044 
			 2004 52,807,808

Video Games

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many video games presented to the British Board of Film Classification have been refused a classification in each of the last five years.

Barbara Follett: In 2007 the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) rejected the full version of the video game Manhunt 2. This game remains banned in the UK. The BBFC also rejected a toned down version of Manhunt 2 but this ban was overturned on appeal to the Video Appeals Committee and this modified version is on sale in the UK. No other games were refused a classification in this period.

Video Games

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many video games consoles were sold in the UK in the latest  (a) week,  (b) month and  (c) year for which information is available.

Barbara Follett: I am advised by GfK Chart-Track, the UK charts authority responsible for monitoring retail sales of video games in the UK, of the following available figures:
	 (a) 106,000 consoles sold in week 8 of 2009
	 (b) 444,000 consoles sold in February 2009
	 (c) 9.3 million consoles sold in 2008.

Video Games

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what research his Department has conducted on the average age at which children begin  (a) playing video games and  (b) using the internet.

Barbara Follett: The Byron Review: "Safer Children in a Digital World" report reviewed a comprehensive range of available research looking at how children interact with video games and the internet. However, no specific research has been undertaken by my Department to determine the age children begin playing video games or using the internet.

OLYMPICS

Departmental Plants

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how much her Department spent on  (a) pot plants and  (b) cut flowers in each of the last three years.

Tessa Jowell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Watson) on 11 March 2008,  Official Report, column 324W.

Departmental Sick Leave

Norman Lamb: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what the average number of days sick leave per member of staff per year in her Office has been since the Office was established.

Tessa Jowell: Annual sick leave statistics, including average number of sick leave days per member of staff, are published on the Cabinet Office website at:
	http://beta.civilservice.gov.uk/
	and in the "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service", a copy of which has been placed in the Library.

Olympic Games 2012: Expenditure

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how much had been spent on the aquatics venue at the latest date for which figures are available; and what the estimated final cost of the venue is.

Tessa Jowell: At the end of December 2008, £33 million had been spent on the aquatics centre project.
	The original November 2007 budget for the project was £214 million. This was increased to £246 million due to the transfer of £28 million to the aquatics centre budget from that of the F10 Bridge—the land bridge that will form part of the roof of the venue—and increases in scope to allow for enhanced community use of the venue in legacy. There is a potential cost pressure relating to a possible scope change for additional athlete facilities, which may or may not arise, estimated at £5 million.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Administration

Jo Swinson: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2009,  Official Report, column 935W, what assessment the House of Commons Commission has made of the merits of the  (a) accounting and administration systems for and  (b) systems for provision of information to the public on hon. Members' expenses in place in the (i) Scottish Parliament and (ii) National Assembly for Wales; and whether the Commission has considered adopting elements of those systems for use by the House authorities.

Nick Harvey: The Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales operate systems of allowances and governance that differ from those that apply in the House of Commons. In the case of the provision of information, the Scottish Parliament is subject to separate access to information legislation and associated scrutiny. In reaching its own decisions in relation both to the administration of Members' allowances and publication of information about them the Members Estimate Committee has drawn on a range of sources including the other UK legislatures and Assemblies. For example the Committee drew extensively on the experience of the Scottish Parliament in its Review of Allowances (HC 578) published in June 2008.

Medical Examinations

Ian Gibson: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if the House of Commons Commission will make provision for the Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Service to offer voluntary annual medical checks to all  (a) hon. Members,  (b) staff of hon. Members and  (c) staff of the House.

Nick Harvey: Currently, the Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Service offer medical checks for Members of both Houses (every three years but Members can request an earlier appointment if they wish) and staff of the House (over 55s only). There is no provision for health checks for staff of hon. Members. There are no plans to increase the frequency of health checks or to extend the eligibility to other groups. Although the formal screening programme is not open to staff of hon. Members, there is provision for them to make use of the minor treatment facility and the physiotherapist.

Members' Allowances

Frank Doran: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what arrangements are being made for the House to publish further information about Members' allowances

Nick Harvey: Annual totals for 2007-08, using the 10 main headings of previous annual publications, will shortly be sent to Members for checking, and will be published before the Easter recess.
	Work is continuing on preparing for publication scans of receipts and forms for the years 2004-05 to 2007-08.

Snow and Ice

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1391W, on snow and ice, if he will assess the merits of issuing all hon. Members with snow shovels.

Nick Harvey: No. As I said in my reply to the hon. Member on 5 April, the cleaning contractor, who has responsibility for snow clearance, has increased the number of snow shovels held on the parliamentary estate to 20.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of Pakistan on their agreement with the Taliban in Swat province.

Bill Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary's last discussions with the Government of Pakistan were with President Zardari on 9 February 2009. He has not discussed Pakistan Government's announcement of a halt to military operations in Swat.

Binyam Mohamed

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the use by Moroccan intelligence services of intelligence gathered by  (a) UK and  (b) US authorities during the interrogation of Binyam Mohamed; whether he authorised the release of such information to the Moroccan intelligence services; what discussions he has had with the US Administration on the release of such information (i) prior and (ii) subsequent to its release; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: It is the long-standing policy of the Government not to comment on intelligence matters. The Intelligence Security Committee's 2007 Report on Rendition stated that
	"there is a reasonable probability that intelligence passed to the Americans was used in relation to Mr. Mohamed's subsequent interrogation."

Colombia: Drugs

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2009,  Official Report, column 358W, on Colombia: armed forces, what consideration his Department has given to the merits of providing counter-narcotics assistance to Colombia through the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Gillian Merron: We support a number of projects on counter narcotics in Colombia and elsewhere in the Latin American region that are implemented by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office supports the following recent or ongoing UNODC projects in Colombia:
	(i) Expanding regional legal assistance programmes (multi-year 2007-10)
	(ii) Training against money laundering (2007-08)
	(iii) Best practices in trials and investigation (multi-year 2007-09)
	(iv) Colombia/Venezuela border (multi-year 2008-09)
	(v) Risk of money laundering in Commerce and Trade (multi-year 2009-11)
	(vi) Regional criminal justice sector reform (multi-year 2009-12)
	(vii) Implementation of Best Practices in Civil Asset Forfeiture (Colombia/Peru) (2009)
	(viii) Integrated monitoring system for illicit crops (2007-08)

English Language: Education

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Prime Minister's announcement on English—the World's language on 17 January 2008, what progress has been made in inviting offers from telephone, telecom, internet, broadcast and website companies to make the latest and most dynamic English learning, teaching and practice materials available through their channels.

Caroline Flint: Following my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's announcement, the British Council is in detailed discussions with a major global IT business and a web-based learning company about providing its English language materials for global distribution.
	In April 2008, the British Council, in partnership with the BBC and UK English language teaching publishers, launched the 'TeachingEnglish' website which now attracts 350,000 unique visitors a month. The British Council is also piloting a new voice over internet protocol offer in workplace English for young Chinese professionals with a Chinese company.
	The 'TeachingEnglish' website is available for viewing at:
	http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/

Nuclear Disarmament

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many copies of his Departmental report, "Lifting the Nuclear Shadow: Creating the Conditions for Abolishing Nuclear Weapons", have been published; what methods he has used to publicise and distribute the paper; who was present at the launch of the paper at the International Institute for Strategic Studies on 4 February 2008; and which non-governmental organisations were consulted in preparation of the report.

Bill Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) printed an initial run of 3,000 copies of the report. It is also available for download from the FCO website; to date, over 1,000 copies have been downloaded. The paper is being publicised and distributed online, via e-mail, and through overseas posts. The launch event for the paper at the International Institute for Strategic Studies on 4 February 2008 was attended by interested non-governmental organisations (NGOs), academics, parliamentarians, the media, representatives of foreign embassies and International Institute for Strategic Studies members. NGOs consulted in preparation of the report were:
	Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
	VERTIC
	The Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy
	Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
	Medact
	British American Security Information Council
	Kings College London
	Royal United Services Institute
	UK Defence Academy
	Southampton University
	University of Wales
	International Institute for Strategic Studies
	Council on Foreign Relations
	Carnegie Endowment
	Nuclear Threat Initiative

Sri Lanka: Armed Conflict

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with  (a) members of the UN Security Council and  (b) his Commonwealth counterparts on the political situation in Sri Lanka; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: We remain of the view that a political solution that addresses the legitimate concerns of all communities in Sri Lanka is the only way to bring a sustainable end to the conflict. We will continue to discuss this with international partners. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has discussed the situation in Sri Lanka with a number of UN Security Council, Commonwealth and EU counterparts.

Sri Lanka: Armed Conflict

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek a special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on the situation in Sri Lanka.

Bill Rammell: The UK, both independently and as part of the EU, regularly addresses the human rights situation in Sri Lanka and plans to do so again at the UN Human Rights Council which will be in session from 2-27 March 2009.

Sri Lanka: Foreign Relations

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the remit of the Prime Minister's special envoy to Sri Lanka is.

Bill Rammell: We hope that my right hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Des Browne) in his role as the Prime Minister's special envoy for Sri Lanka, will be able to focus on the immediate humanitarian situation in northern Sri Lanka and the Government of Sri Lanka's work to set out a political solution to bring about a lasting end to the conflict. We want him to work closely with the Sri Lankan Government, leaders from all communities in Sri Lanka, international agencies and the wider international community in this role. As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary explained to the House on 24 February 2009,  Official Report, column 140, he remains in active discussion with the Sri Lankan Government to encourage them to work with him.

USA: Israel

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government have received notification from the United States Administration in the last six months of any US transfer of armaments to Israel through UK airspace.

John Hutton: I have been asked to reply.
	The Ministry of Defence has a system in place that requires all countries to seek clearance for aircraft registered as military or state aircraft that wish to enter, fly over or depart from UK airspace or for civilian aircraft wishing to land at a military base. All other types of aircraft are subject to the requirements of the Civil Aviation Authority. A request for clearance from the MOD includes the final destination of the flight and details of dangerous cargo that may be in transit. I can confirm that we have had no such requests from the US with regards to flights to Israel through UK airspace in the last six months.

Western Sahara: Fisheries

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of the effects on UK trawlers of the declaration of an exclusive economic zone in relation to the waters off Western Sahara.

Bill Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not received any reports about the effect the declaration by the Polisario of an exclusive economic zone off the waters of Western Sahara has had on the activities of UK trawlers.
	In line with UN Security Council Resolution 1813, 30 April 2008 the Government continue to call on all the parties to the dispute to work in a spirit of realism and compromise towards a mutually acceptable political solution, providing for self-determination for the people of Western Sahara.

Western Sahara: Human Rights

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will request the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights to release the Commission's report on its missions to Rabat, El Ayoun, Tindouf and Algiers in May and June 2006.

Bill Rammell: The Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) visited Morocco, Western Sahara, refugee camps in Tindouf, (Algeria) and Algiers in May-June 2006 to gather information on the human rights situation. The OHCHR shared its report privately with Morocco, Algeria and the Polisario on 8 September 2006, but did not publish it, in line with terms of reference agreed by all parties prior to the visit. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights continues to maintain the position that the report should remain an internal document, not for official publication, and the UK respects this decision.

Western Sahara: Human Rights

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will support the inclusion of a peacekeeping role and a human rights monitoring function for the United Nations Mission for the referendum in Western Sahara upon the renewal of its mandate in April 2009.

Bill Rammell: The UK continues to support the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). The mandate of MINURSO does not include human rights monitoring.
	However, success in the negotiations depends upon building greater confidence between the parties. In this respect, the UK remains open to supporting UN human rights monitoring in the Western Sahara if it can be shown to enhance the mutual confidence of the parties.

Western Sahara: Politics and Government

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is on the inclusion in a UN plan for Western Sahara of a referendum with independence as an option.

Bill Rammell: The UK continues to believe that progress towards a negotiated solution to the dispute in Western Sahara providing for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara is best achieved under the auspices of the UN. We fully support the efforts of the UN Secretary-General to this end and welcome the appointment of his new personal envoy to the Western Sahara, Christopher Ross.
	The UK believes that a referendum on the future status of Western Sahara should result from the negotiation process currently under way, with the options for any eventual referendum to be agreed by all the parties.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Departmental Pay

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department has allocated for staff bonuses in 2008-09.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Performance related pay schemes encourage high attainment, help drive performance in Departments and agencies and support better public service delivery. DEFRA uses non-consolidated payments to reward high performance during the year and these are based on the how well an individual has met or exceeded set objectives, relative to their peers.
	These are one-off payments and do not count towards pension. They are funded within existing pay bill controls, have to be re-earned each year and, as such, do not add to future pay bill costs. They are allocated from a 'pot' expressed as a percentage of the salary budget each year.
	For the senior civil service (SCS) the size of the pot available is agreed centrally each year following recommendations from the senior salaries review body. In recent years, this pot has increased as greater emphasis is placed on non-consolidated performance pay with proportionately smaller increases to consolidated base pay.
	The size of the pot for non-SCS is determined individually by Departments and agencies through the pay remit process and in negotiations with the trades unions.
	In 2008-09, £4,913,971 was allocated for non-consolidated performance pay for staff in DEFRA and its executive agencies. The total paybill for the period is £384,631,197, of which, 1.28 per cent. is used for non-consolidated performance payments.
	The median payment for staff in core DEFRA (including staff who transferred to DECC in October 2008) and those agencies covered by core DEFRA's terms and conditions (Animal Health, Veterinary Medicines Directorate, Marine and Fisheries Agency and Government Decontamination Service and until 1 April 2008 Pesticides Safety Directorate) was £750. In CSL it was £507.57; in VLA it was £266.23; in CEFAS it was £956; and in the RPA it was £800.

Departmental Public Relations

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost of his Department's contracts with public relations consultancies was in each of the last five years.

Huw Irranca-Davies: In DEFRA, public relations covers a wide range of activity which forms an important element of a broader communications mix. This can include advertising, direct marketing, live events and publications. The following table shows what public relations activity was procured via DEFRA's Communications Directorate since FY 2004-05 using the COI public relations framework.
	
		
			  Financial year  PR agency  Campaign  Expenditure (£) 
			 2004-05 Amazon PR Sustainable Development 58,788 
			 2005-06 Amazon PR Sustainable Development 67,084 
			  Weber Shandwick Climate Change 86,781 
			 2006-07 EdComs and Blue Rubicon DEFRA Year of Food and Farming 50,872 
			  Amazon PR Sustainable Development 48,973 
			  Trimedia Harrison Cowley ACT ON C02 campaign 49,250 
			  Amazon PR Sustainable development 48,973 
			 2007-08 Trimedia Harrison Cowley ACT ON C02 campaign (including a series of regional roadshows) 476,301 
			  Munro and Forster Waste 64,424 
			  Trimedia Communications UK Climate Change Champions 32,216 
			  EdComs and Blue Rubicon DEFRA Year of Food and Farming 242,578 
			 2008-09 EDComs and Blue Rubicon DEFRA Year of Food and Farming 28,230 
			  Trimedia Communications UK ACT ON C02 campaign 78,529

Empty Property

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the estimated cost in empty property business rates for the vacant properties recorded on the e-PIMS database owned by his Department is in 2008-09.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The estimated cost of vacant business rates for Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs sites, recorded as vacant on e-PIMS for 2008-09 is £1,285,135.10. One large building in Central London accounts for £736,769.95 of this, which is being actively marketed.
	We have a further two sites that have been vacant in 2008-09 and the estimated cost of vacant business rates on these sites is £19,320.

Floods

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the proportion of flooding caused by  (a) overflowing waterways and  (b) blocked watercourses, culverts and drains in 2008.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The Environment Agency collects information on flooding from rivers and the sea. It has not estimated the proportion causes of flooding from these sources in 2008.

Floods: Canvey Island

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made of the effect on the flood plain of the works planned in the flood risk area of Canvey Island in relation to the Roscommon Way extension; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The Environment Agency has informed the Highways Authority consultants, Mouchel Parkman that a flood risk assessment (FRA) must be submitted as part of the planning application for the Roscommon Way extension. The FRA must determine the flood risk impact of the road and propose mitigation measures so there is no increased flood risk to the surrounding land. To date the Environment Agency has not been consulted on the flood risk assessment.

Genetically Modified Organisms: Crops

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans his Department has for managing the coexistence of genetically-modified (GM) and non-GM crops.

Huw Irranca-Davies: In 2006 DEFRA published a consultation paper on proposals for managing the coexistence of GM and non-GM crop in England. This is available at
	www.defra.gov.uk/environment/gm/crops/pdf/gmcoexist-condoc.pdf
	On 8 November 2007,  Official Report, column 16WS, we made a written statement confirming that we would await further developments before finalising our coexistence plans. That remains the current position.

National Hazards Team

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects the national hazards team to be established.

Tom Watson: I have been asked to reply.
	The Civil Contingencies Secretariat is recruiting members of the natural hazards team now and expects to establish the team very soon; in the meantime, work is in hand to initiate the project to identify and counter the risks to national infrastructure from natural hazards.

TRANSPORT

Aviation: Carbon Emissions

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent estimate he has made of the required average annual reduction in carbon dioxide emissions per passenger relating to aircraft departing from UK airports between 2005 and 2050 in order to achieve the Government's target of keeping aviation-derived carbon dioxide emissions in 2050 below the 2005 level.

Jim Fitzpatrick: In announcing their new target to bring UK aviation carbon dioxide emissions in 2050 below 2005 levels, the Government asked the Committee on Climate Change to advise on the best basis for its development. The Committee is due to report by December 2009. The Committee's advice will inform the Government's approach in ensuring achievement of the target.

Aviation: Carbon Emissions

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average annual change in carbon dioxide emissions has been per passenger in relation to aircraft departing from UK airports in each year since 1990.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The following table provides estimates of aviation carbon dioxide emissions per passenger for all domestic and international air passengers flying from UK airports in each year from 1990 to 2007.
	Based on these data, average CO2 per domestic passenger has decreased from 0.10 tonnes in 1990 to 0.09 tonnes in 2007 and per international passenger from 0.41 tonnes in 1990 to 0.36 tonnes in 2007; this equates to an average annual fall of 1 per cent. in CO2 per passenger.
	
		
			  Table: Estimates of average CO 2  emissions per passenger flying from UK airports, 1990-2007 
			   Domestic aviation  International aviation 
			   Carbon dioxide (million tonnes)  Departing passengers (million)  Average CO 2  per passenger (tonnes)  Carbon dioxide (million tonnes)  Departing passengers (million)  Average CO 2  per passenger (tonnes) 
			 1990 1.24 12.2 0.10 15.71 38.6 0.41 
			 1991 1.21 11.5 0.11 15.48 36.3 0.43 
			 1992 1.22 11.6 0.11 17.12 41.5 0.41 
			 1993 1.30 12.1 0.11 18.23 44.0 0.41 
			 1994 1.21 12.9 0.09 18.97 48.2 0.39 
			 1995 1.29 14.0 0.09 20.17 50.7 0.40 
			 1996 1.40 15.2 0.09 21.38 52.7 0.41 
			 1997 1.46 16.0 0.09 22.74 57.3 0.40 
			 1998 1.59 16.7 0.10 25.30 62.7 0.40 
			 1999 1.76 17.5 0.10 27.49 66.7 0.41 
			 2000 1.90 18.6 0.10 30.31 71.3 0.42 
			 2001 1.99 19.2 0.10 29.56 71.4 0.41 
			 2002 2.00 21.0 0.09 29.01 73.3 0.40 
			 2003 2.04 22.9 0.09 29.72 77.1 0.39 
			 2004 2.18 24.3 0.09 32.53 83.6 0.39 
			 2005 2.38 25.1 0.09 35.09 89.0 0.39 
			 2006 2.29 24.9 0.09 35.65 92.7 0.38 
			 2007 2.14 24.4 0.09 34.97 96.0 0.36 
			  Notes: 1. Domestic aviation includes all departures from UK airports flying to another UK airport. International aviation includes all departures from a UK airport flying to a destination outside of the UK. These will carry both UK and foreign passengers. 2. The aviation CO2 emissions are derived from bunker fuel sales, which broadly equates to all departing aircraft (excluding military aircraft). Therefore the figures in the table do not reflect emissions from surface access nor emissions from airport buildings. 3. Emissions from freighter aircraft have been allocated to passengers in these illustrative figures. 4. The CO2 emissions do not account for non-CO2 climate change effects of aviation emissions.  Sources: Carbon dioxide emissions - AEA Energy and Environment / DECC. Passengers - Civil Aviation Authority statistics. 
		
	
	The average CO2 per passenger figures in the table above have been calculated by dividing total CO2 emissions from departing flights by the number of departing passengers. They do not therefore reflect a weighted average of emissions to account for the relative numbers of flights flying different trip lengths. The level of emissions per passenger will be affected by such factors as load factors, type of aircraft used, fuel efficiency changes, etc.

Aviation: Taxation

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his forecast is for the constrained air passenger demand in 2030, taking into account  (a) the implementation of the increases in air passenger Duty announced in the 2008 Pre-Budget Report,  (b) expectations of future levels of gross domestic product as set out in the 2008 Pre-Budget Report and  (c) the effect of aviation being included in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme on the basis of current proposals; and what adjustment would be made to this forecast if it is also assumed that a barrel of oil will cost $150 in 2030.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport's UK Air Passenger Demand and CO2 Forecasts, page 48, reports the forecast of 2030 constrained air passenger demand for: each of the individual scenarios  (a),  (b),  (c); and, a 2030 oil price of $150 per barrel (in 2007 prices). This report is available at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/aviation/atf/co2forecasts09/
	No assessment has been made of the forecast of 2030 constrained air passenger demand taking into account  (a),  (b) and  (c) together. Therefore, no assessment has been made of the adjustment that would be made to such a forecast if a barrel of oil were to cost $150 (in 2007 prices) in 2030.

BRB (Residuary): Empty Property

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the estimated cost in empty property business rates for the vacant properties recorded on the e-PIMS database owned by the British Railways Board (Residuary) Ltd is in 2008-09.

Geoff Hoon: The estimated empty property business rates payable for the year 2008-09 is approximately £1.2 million.
	The properties comprise approximately 121,244 sq m of largely office accommodation originally leased by the then British Railways Board to accommodate their own administrative staff. The properties were transferred to BRB (Residuary) Ltd (BRBR)—a wholly owned subsidiary of the Secretary of State—in 2002. The accommodation is now sub-let to a mixture of civil service Departments, the railway industry and other private sector tenants.
	The day to day management objective for the Estate is to keep operating costs to a minimum, including empty rates. This is done by renting out as much space as possible, consistent with value for money.
	The e-PIMs database identifies some 30,126 sq m as available to let. However, part of this space is also earmarked for redevelopment and early disposal. For example, the Rail House, Manchester space is subject to a major redevelopment to create over 10,000 sq m of accommodation for the civil service, with the Training and Development Agency moving up from London. The Furlong House and John Peyton House properties (6,200 sq m) are currently in the late stages of sale.

Bus Services: Merseyside

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many low-floor wheelchair- accessible buses are used on services funded by Merseytravel in  (a) Merseyside and  (b) Sefton (i) in total and (ii) as a proportion of the size of the fleet.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not hold the information requested as the vehicle specification and funding for supported services is a matter for local authorities.

Careless Driving: Fixed Penalties

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to bring forward proposals to give police forces the powers to issue fixed penalty tickets for careless driving; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Proposals to make careless driving a fixed penalty offence were outlined in the Department's Road Safety Compliance Consultation which closed on 27 February. We are currently considering the responses and an announcement will be made in due course.

Departmental Art Works

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which works of art from the Government Art Collection each Minister in his Department has selected for display in a private office.

Geoff Hoon: The following pieces from the Government Art Collection are on display in Ministers' private offices in the Department for Transport.
	
		
			  Minister  Title of artwork  Type  Artist 
			 Geoff Hoon Persian Legend Painting Thelma Hulbert 
			  Downstairs Painting Olwen Jones 
			  Interior with Aluminium Sheet Painting Peter Jowett 
			  Grey Aspect 2 Painting Prunella Clough 
			  Cypress Trees at Oppedette Print Craigie Aitchison 
			 
			 Jim Fitzpatrick Night Print André Bicat 
			  Stone Monument in Mist, Cornwall Photograph Howard Jeffs 
			  Houses of Parliament III Print Oskar Kokoschka 
			  Port of London I Print Oskar Kokoschka 
			  Tower Bridge III Print Oskar Kokoschka 
			  Cyberseries I Print Jessica Jones 
			  Cyberseries II Print Jessica Jones 
			 
			 Paul Clark Building Retaining Wall etc. near Park Street, Camden Town, 17 September 1836. Drawings of the London and Birmingham Railway Print John Cooke Bourne 
			  Building the Stationery Engine House, Camden Town 26 April 1837. Drawings of the London and Birmingham Railway Print John Cooke Bourne 
			  Vale of Keswick, Bassenthwaite Lake and River Greta Print James Baker Pyne 
			  Harvest Print Richard Slater

Departmental Data Protection

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what period of time elapses before his Department's electronic records are  (a) archived and  (b) destroyed; and what percentage of such records created in (i) 2007 and (ii) 2008 have been destroyed.

Geoff Hoon: The following table shows relevant information for the central Department and the Executive agencies:
	
		
			   Record management 
			 DFT Central The archival and destruction arrangements for all documents held as part of the official record, including those electronically produced, are subject to business need and agreement between business units and the Departmental Records Officer. Information on the number of electronic records created and destroyed is not available. 
			 Highways Agency All HA electronic records have a standard retention period of 7 years followed by a review. At the end of the review period they will be retained, destroyed or transferred to the National Archives at the appropriate time. No archiving is done within the HA. The HA electronic records management system went live on 1 February 2009, therefore no formal electronic records were created in 2007 and 2008. 
			 Vehicle and Operator Services Agency Policies are in place for the archive and deletion of electronic data but the period for these actions varies in accordance with the business needs. No areas have deleted records for 2007 and 2008. 
			 Government Car and Despatch Agency Records management is the responsibility of individual units within the Agency. Destruction numbers are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. 
			 Maritime and Coastguard Agency The MCA keep all of its records in hard copy format with archive and destruction following agreed retention and disposal agreements. As a result, no electronic records are archived or destroyed. 
			 Vehicle Certification Agency VCA does not have a separate electronic records policy but guidelines are in place for records management arrangements throughout the agency. 
			 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency DVLA core business data relate to full driver and vehicle records. These records are retained indefinitely to meet our core business requirements, for example law enforcement. 
			 Driving Standards Agency DSA applies different archiving and destruction timescales according to the nature of the data. Records are not kept on the creation or destruction of electronic information.

Departmental Data Protection

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what date his Department's policy on the management of its electronic records took effect; and on what dates it has been reviewed.

Geoff Hoon: The dates on which the central Department and Executive agency policies on record management took effect and were reviewed is set out in the following tables:
	
		
			   Date records policy took effect  Date records policy reviewed 
			 DFT(C) Prior to formation of DFT in 2002 Regularly reviewed and updated when necessary, most recently in December 2007 and October 2008 
			 HA 1994 Reviewed annually; January 2009 
			 VOSA 2003 Parts of the policy are currently being reviewed 
			 GCDA Working to DFT(C) records policy Will review GCDA records policy in 2009-2010 
			 MCA Working to DFT(C) records policy Subject to DFT(C) review of policy and policy updates 
			 VCA Working to DFT(C) records policy The policy for VCA is currently being reviewed 
			 DVLA 2008 (for management of registered files) Reviewed annually; December 2008 
		
	
	The dates on which the Driving Standards Agency's policies on record management took effect and were reviewed is set out in the following table:
	
		
			  DSA p olicy  Approved  Reviewed 
			 HR Data Retention Policy November 2002 Currently under review 
			 DSA Records Management Policy March 2003 Currently under review 
			 Appropriate use of IT and Communications Equipment Policy August 2006 Reviewed version published July 2008 
			 Annex M of Pearson Data Processor Agreement December 2007 July 2008 
			 Retention Schedule for the Integrated Register of Driver Trainers May 2008 Review date not yet set 
			 Fraud and Integrity Retention and Disposal Schedule January 2009 Review date not yet set

Departmental Data Protection

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's policy on the management of electronic records.

Geoff Hoon: A copy of the central Department's policy on the management of electronic and paper records has been placed in the Library along with records policies for the Highways Agency and the Vehicle Operator Services Agency. The Driving Standards Agency has also placed the following documents in the Library:
	DSA Records Management Policy
	HR Data Retention Policy
	Appropriate use of IT and Communications Equipment Policy
	Retention Schedule for the Integrated Register of Driver Trainers
	Fraud and Integrity Retention and Disposal Schedule
	Annex M of Pearson Data Processor Agreement.
	The Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency has policies on the storage, transmission and destruction of electronic protectively marked material but they are themselves protectively marked and it would not be appropriate to make them publicly available.

Departmental Sick Leave

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average number of days sick leave per staff member in his Department was in each of the last five years.

Geoff Hoon: Sickness absence is monitored by the central Department and its agencies on a monthly basis. The average number of working days lost for the Department for Transport is as follows:
	
		
			   Average number of working days lost 
			 2003 10.2 
			 2004 10.7 
			 2005 10.4 
			 2006 10.2 
			 2007 11.0 
			 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008 10.8 
			 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008 9.9 
			 1 October 2007 to 30 September 2008 9.3 
		
	
	The figures to 2006 have been previously published in the "National Audit Office Report: The management of staff sickness absence in the Department for Transport and its agencies" dated 8 June 2007. The figures are based on an agreed departmental reporting methodology and reported within a calendar year. Figures for 2007 onwards are in accordance with the Cabinet Office reporting methodology introduced for all Government Departments. Reporting is now within financial years on a rolling year basis.

Heathrow Airport

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how many discrete views were expressed in responses to the adding capacity at Heathrow airport consultation, broken down by  (a) the code allocated to the view under the code frame used by Detica and  (b) the response type in which the view was expressed;
	(2)  how many responses to the adding capacity at Heathrow airport consultation were received in the form of  (a) Justine Greening Petition and  (b) 'Justine Greening your views of Heathrow' postcards, as categorised by Detica under its code frame; and how many of these responses included free-text.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 26 February 2009
	A detailed analysis of the responses to the adding capacity at Heathrow airport consultation can be found in the "adding capacity at Heathrow airport report on consultation responses", which was published on 15 January. Chapter 4 discusses response volumes, and Appendix B explains in detail the code frames used. 1549 'Justine Greening your views of Heathrow' postcards, and 584 'Justine Greening Petition' responses were received. However as the postcards were received before the start of the consultation, they were not analysed as individual responses. A detailed breakdown of discrete views contained both in petition and postcard responses, and in all other responses, can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

High Speed Two

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what terms of reference he has given to the High Speed Two company.

Paul Clark: holding answer 27 February 2009
	 I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of Sate for Transport on 15 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 355-60, and the accompanying document "Britain's Transport Infrastructure: High Speed Two", which was deposited in the House Libraries on the same day.

Limousines

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what regulations apply to the carriage of passengers in stretch limousines; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport has published guidance for operators of stretch limousines, which provides an overview of the requirements that apply to the use of such vehicles. The guidance is available on the internet at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/taxis/limousines
	and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Motor Vehicles: Petrol Alternatives

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what  (a) research and  (b) trialling his Department has conducted on the provision of (i) hydrogen supply and (ii) electric charge points networks for road vehicles powered by hydrogen and electricity in the last five years; and what (A) funding and (B) other resources his Department has provided for (1) local authorities and (2) regional development agencies to create such networks in that period.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport (DfT) commissioned the Health and Safety Laboratory to examine the issues around hydrogen refuelling infrastructures. In 2008 they produced the reports "Assessing the safety of delivery and storage of hydrogen" and a "Review of the regulatory framework around hydrogen refuelling", available on:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/scienceresearch/futures/horizons/june08
	The Department and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform commissioned Cenex (UK Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell technologies), along with the consultancy firm Arup, to examine and advise on the issues relating to the mass market introduction of electric vehicles. Their report is available at:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file48653.pdf
	DfT has provided grant funding for electric recharging points of £171,000 through the alternative refuelling infrastructure grant programme of which £80,546 was provided directly to local authorities. There were no grants provided for the regional development agencies for electric recharging points. No grants were provided for hydrogen refuelling infrastructure.

New Trains: Investments

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the Statement of 12 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 1531-4W, on new trains (investments), by what date he expects the last of the 1,400 new carriages announced to be in service.

Paul Clark: The Intercity Express programme (IEP) order is for up to 1,400 vehicles, the last of which are expected to enter service in 2018.

Property Development

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the powers available to him under the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2006 in respect of proposed development sites.

Paul Clark: Powers are available to the Secretary of State for Transport under the General Permitted Development Order(1), which give planning permission in respect of works undertaken in exercise of the functions of the Secretary of State under the Highways Act 1980, or works in connection with or incidental to the exercise of those functions. No assessment has been made of these powers.
	(1) The Town and Country Planning (Application of Subordinate Legislation to the Crown) Order 2006 SI 2006/1282

Public Transport: Disabled

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding his Department has made available to improve disabled access transport services in North Wiltshire constituency.

Paul Clark: In November 2007, the Department for Transport announced the allocation of over £50 million to Wiltshire county council, which covers the North Wiltshire constituency, to support delivery of capital investment included in the last three years of its local transport plan. This funding is not ring-fenced and Wiltshire has discretion to spend allocations in line with its priorities, including disabled access to transport services. Revenue expenditure on transport is generally supported through the Department for Communities and Local Government's formula grant.
	Local transport legislation contains an obligation for local transport authorities to have regard to the transport needs of older people and people with mobility difficulties when developing transport plans and policies.

Railways: Overcrowding

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to introduce additional rolling stock on the Newport-Hereford line to reduce passenger overcrowding.

Paul Clark: Services on this route are provided by the Arriva Trains Wales franchise, and responsibility for their specification is devolved to the Welsh Assembly Government. Additional services were introduced on the route in December 2008.

Roads: Snow and Ice

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many days stock of gritting agent the Highways Agency held on  (a) 31 January 2009 and  (b) 6 February 2009; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Clark: The Highways Agency defines its salt stocks by the number of days that salt treatments could be delivered for snow conditions, across the strategic road network in England, without further deliveries being received. This assumes six treatments per day, at a salt spread rate of 20 g/m2 per treatment.
	During a normal winter season, the Highways Agency will seek to maintain a minimum salt stocks level of six days. For the requested dates, the salt stocks held by the Highways Agency were as follows:
	
		
			   Days 
			 31 January 2009 7.64 
			 6 February 2009 4.16 
		
	
	This reduction in stocks enabled the Agency to make some of its supplies available to individual local authorities and for new supplies of salt to be shared with local authorities and devolved Administrations across Great Britain, reflecting stocks held and forecast weather.

Roads: Snow and Ice

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require local authorities to clear pavements of snow in areas with high numbers of pedestrians.

Paul Clark: Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 places a duty on highway authorities
	"to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that safe passage along a highway is not endangered by snow or ice".
	It is for each local highway authority to determine how best to discharge this duty. The Government see no need for further legislation.

Rolling Stock

Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether any of the new rail rolling stock recently announced by his Department will be fitted out for use as sleeper accommodation.

Paul Clark: These trains will be designed to be longer and carry up to 21 per cent. more passengers but will not be fitted out for use as sleeper accommodation.

Rolling Stock

Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he plans to support the provision of sleeper rail services where these compete with domestic or short-haul international air travel services; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Clark: Sleeper services between Scotland and London are provided by First ScotRail as part of the franchise agreement with transport Scotland. Sleeper services between Penzance and London are provided by First Great Western. There are no other plans for sleeper services.

Rolling Stock

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Lewes of 9 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1606W, on rolling stock, what the timetable is for ordering the remaining 877 of the 1,300 carriages referred to in the 2007 White Paper, "Delivering a Sustainable Railway".

Paul Clark: It is currently expected that the new train orders will be placed as follows:
	
		
			  Operator  Vehicles  Expected order date 
			 NXEA 120 2009 
			 LM 88 2009-10 
			 GoCo 202 2009 
			 SWT 140 2009-10 
			 TLK Up to 1,300 2009-10 
		
	
	However, this is subject to agreement with the train operators concerned and a satisfactory value for money assessment.

Wheel Clamps

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport under what circumstances the owner of a vehicle may be held liable for a payment to release a wheel clamp where the vehicle in question had been parked by a person other than the owner.

Paul Clark: Few local authorities use immobilisation as part of their parking enforcement activities. If an immobilised vehicle had been parked on the public highway by a person without the keeper's consent, the keeper would have to pay the release fee but can make representations to the local authority and, if this is refused, can appeal to an adjudicator on this ground.
	I understand from the Home Office that if such a vehicle was immobilised on private land, the way that the vehicle keeper was treated would be at the discretion of the immobilisation staff.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Bereavement Benefits

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 3 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1010W, on bereavement benefits, how many payments of  (a) bereavement allowance and  (b) bereavement payment were (i) made within the target times and (ii) not made within the target times in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Kitty Ussher: There is no national target for the processing of applications for bereavement benefits although we aim to deliver bereavement allowance within 15 days and bereavement payment within 10 days.
	Information about average actual clearance time for bereavement allowance, widowed parents allowance and bereavement benefit payments for the last five years is in the following tables.
	
		
			  Bereavement allowance and widowed parents allowance average actual clearance times 
			   Days 
			 2004-05 15.4 
			 2005-06 14.8 
			 2006-07 15.4 
			 2007-08 18.8 
			 2008-09 to date 15.1 
		
	
	
		
			  Bereavement payment average actual clearance times 
			   Days 
			 2004-05 7.8 
			 2005-06 7.8 
			 2006-07 8.9 
			 2007-08 11.9 
			 2008-09 to date 9.2

Departmental Consultants

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many consultants his Department retains; in what areas of his Department's work each operates; for how long each has been contracted to work within his Department; and at what cost.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 27 February 2009
	The Department does not keep centralised records of individual consultants retained and therefore the answer could only be provided at disproportionate cost. We can however confirm that consultants are currently engaged in the following areas:
	Human Resources
	Finance
	IT
	Communications
	Jobcentre Plus
	Pension, Disability and Carers Service
	Work, welfare and equality group

Departmental Telephone Services

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many telephone numbers for which callers are charged at the rate applicable to 0845 numbers are used by  (a) his Department and  (b) its executive agencies for public access to services.

Jonathan R Shaw: DWP and its executive agencies; Jobcentre Plus, Pension, Disability and Carers Service and Rent Service currently publish 129 0845 numbers for primary contact for customers accessing their services.

Departmental Written Questions

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions in the last 12 months Ministers in his Department have used their discretion to rule that a parliamentary question for written answer should be answered because it would be in the public interest to do so, even though to do so would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold of £700.

Jonathan R Shaw: The information requested is not collated centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Housing Benefit: Essex

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  if he will publish information on changes in the level of benefits experienced by local housing allowance claimants resident in  (a) Southend-on-Sea and  (b) Essex who move address; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of persons residing in  (a) Southend and  (b) Essex who will receive (i) an increase, (ii) a decrease and (iii) no change in benefit paid following the introduction of local housing allowance; what recent representations he has received on this issue; and if he will make a statement;

Kitty Ussher: We have no immediate plans to publish specific information on the level of benefit change experienced by local housing allowance claimants who move address. We are in the process of carrying out a two year review of local housing allowance.
	A claimant who is receiving the local housing allowance and who moves address within their existing broad rental market area, and who has no other changes to their family composition, will normally see no change in the amount of local housing allowance that they receive.
	From 7 April 2008, the local housing allowance is being rolled out to customers making new claims for benefit and customers who change address. The local housing allowance provides a clear and transparent set of allowance rates that helps tenants know how much financial help is available. A claimant can obtain details of the relevant rate of local housing allowance in advance, allowing them to make an informed choice about the affordability of specific accommodation.
	Information on all local housing allowance rates and details of broad rental market areas are available from the rent service website at:
	www.therentservice.gov.uk/
	The Department carried out a full public consultation before introducing the local housing allowance. We have received a wide range of representations about all aspects of local housing allowance. Details of individual representations, and our response to them, could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Mortgage Interest Rate Relief

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what mortgage interest rate his Department is currently paying claimants entitled to assistance with mortgage interest; how many claimants have been paid less than this interest rate since the pre-Budget report; by how much those claimants have been underpaid; when he expects to be able to make good the payments to those claimants; and if he will make a statement.

Kitty Ussher: holding answer 27 January 2009
	On 24 November 2008, the Chancellor announced in the pre-Budget report that because of the exceptional circumstances in the economy and the housing market, the Government would maintain, for six months, the level of support for mortgage interest based on a standard interest rate of 6.08 per cent.
	Some people will experience a temporary drop below 6.08 per cent. (to 4.58 per cent.) because our IT systems had been programmed to track the Bank of England base rate. When the Chancellor's decision was made, our IT systems that are used to assess and pay DWP benefits had started automatically to implement the 1.5 per cent. reduction in the base rate announced by the Bank of England on 6 November.
	We were able to re-adjust the rate back to 6.08 per cent. for people getting income-based jobseeker's allowance and income-related employment and support allowance. This amounted to 5 per cent. of the affected cases.
	We could not do so for those getting income support and pension credit without a high risk of disrupting the normal running of our IT systems, most critically the uprating of benefits, which would have affected many more people than just those getting support for mortgage interest.
	We estimate that 80,000 income support customers and 115,000 pension credit customers receive support for mortgage interest and these are currently being paid at 4.58 per cent.
	We are taking urgent action to ensure that these customers do not lose out, and that cases are corrected to reflect the Chancellor's commitment. I can assure the House that no one is being paid support for mortgage at an interest rate below 4.58 per cent.
	In total, departmental expenditure on support for mortgage interest is currently being underpaid at £1.5 million per week. In the vast majority of cases, we transfer customers' support for mortgage interest direct to their lender, so the customer will not see a fall in the amount of money they themselves receive each week. However, we estimate that, on average, support for mortgage interest in respect of pension credit customers will have been underpaid by £7 per week and in respect of income support customers by £11 per week.
	We will make a corrective adjustment for a period of five weeks from 2 February to 8 March 2009. During this period, customers will receive an increase in their benefit to compensate them for the earlier reduction. Then, from 9 March benefit will be readjusted to the correct level with the standard interest rate set at 6.08 per cent.
	Mortgage lenders, via the Council of Mortgage Lenders, have also been advised about the situation to ensure that lenders are aware of exactly what is happening.
	Our staff have been fully briefed and we have issued clear guidance to local authority staff.

Pension Schemes

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of people who are auto-enrolled into the pension's savings scheme from 2012 will receive more than  (a) £5,  (b) more than £6,  (c) more than £7 and  (d) £8 or more worth of value for each £8 invested in their pension.

Rosie Winterton: Pages 55-56 of the report 'Saving for retirement: Implications of pensions reforms on financial incentives to save for retirement', DWP Research Report 558, contain information about the modelled expected returns for individual contributions to a defined contribution pension with employer contribution after 2012. Distributions of returns are shown by birth cohort and results are shown for a range of case studies.

Pensioners: Poverty

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of the percentage of pensioners resident in  (a) the London borough of Bexley and  (b) London living in poverty.

Rosie Winterton: Poverty is a complex and multidimensional issue and, as such, there are many possible measures of poverty.
	Our public service agreement "Tackle poverty and promote greater independence and wellbeing in later life" includes a range of indicators related to low income for pensioners. These are relative low income (below 50 and 60 per cent. contemporary median household income), and absolute low income (below 60 per cent. of 1998-99 median income uprated in line with prices), all measured after housing costs have been taken into account.
	The data source does not allow us to provide robust numbers for estimates below the level of Government office region. The information that is available for the percentage of pensioners in London below each of these thresholds is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Percentage of pensioners falling below various thresholds of median household income, after housing costs, London, 2004-05-2006-07 
			   Percentage 
			 Below 60 per cent of contemporary median household income 22 
			 Below 50 per cent of contemporary median household income 12 
			 Below 60 per cent of the 1998/99 median household income uprated in line with prices 12 
			  Notes: 1. Three survey year averages are given as robust single year estimates cannot be produced because of small sample sizes. 2. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication "Households Below Average Income" (HBAI) series, which uses disposable household income, adjusted (or "equivalised") for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. 3. The figures are based on OECD equivalisation factors. 4. Figures are based on survey data and as such are subject to a degree of sampling and non-sampling error.

Pensioners: Poverty

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of the percentage of pensioners living in poverty resident in  (a) Winchester constituency and  (b) Hampshire.

Rosie Winterton: Poverty is a complex and multidimensional issue and, as such, there are many possible measures of poverty.
	Our public service agreement "Tackle poverty and promote greater independence and wellbeing in later life" includes a range of indicators related to low income for pensioners. These are relative low income (below 50 and 60 per cent. contemporary median household income), and absolute low income (below 60 per cent. of 1998-99 median income uprated in line with prices), all measured after housing costs have been taken into account.
	The data source does not allow us to provide robust numbers for estimates below the level of Government office region. The information that is available for the percentage of pensioners in the south east Government office region below each of these thresholds is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Percentage of pensioners falling below various thresholds of median household income, after housing costs, south east Government office region, 2004-05 to 2006-07 
			   Percentage 
			 Below 60 per cent. of contemporary median household income 16 
			 Below 50 per cent. of contemporary median household income 9 
			 Below 60 per cent. of the 1998-99 median household income uprated in line with prices 8 
			  Notes: 1. Three survey year averages are given as robust single year estimates cannot be produced because of small sample sizes.  2. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication 'Households Below Average Income' (HBAI) series, which uses disposable household income, adjusted (or "equivalised") for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living.  3. The figures are based on OECD equivalisation factors.  4. Figures are based on survey data and as such are subject to a degree of sampling and non-sampling error.

Poverty: Children

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2009,  Official Report, column 575W, on poverty: children, for which years information on the number of children born into families in relative poverty is available; and if he will make a statement.

Kitty Ussher: Information on the number of children born into families in relative poverty is not available for any period.
	This is because the main source of income data, the Family Resources Survey, is a snap-shot survey, capturing a household's situation at the time of interview. This means that the sample size for households with new born children will be small. It may also be the case that the response rate from families with very young children will be lower than usual and therefore may not be representative.

Roscommon Way Extension

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what advice the Health and Safety Executive provided in relation to  (a) Phase I and  (b) Phase II of the Roscommon Way extension, Canvey Island.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 25 February 2009
	The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has not been formally consulted by the planning authority on the health and safety implications of this development's proximity to major accident hazard sites and pipelines on Canvey Island.
	In 2008 HSE advised a consultant acting for Essex county council and, separately, a member of the public that it would not advise the planning authority against a development comprising a single carriageway road passing through the consultation distances around major accident hazard sites in the vicinity.
	HSE also confirmed that Essex county council were aware of the presence of hazardous pipelines in the area and provided the consultant with information on their approximate location. HSE also advised the consultant to contact Calor Gas Ltd for more detailed information on two liquefied petroleum gas pipelines.

Social Security Benefits

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in  (a) each region of England,  (b) Scotland,  (c) Wales and  (d) Northern Ireland receive both working tax credit and housing benefit.

Kitty Ussher: 200,000 families received both working tax credit and housing benefit in the UK in 2006-07, the latest year for which figures are available.
	The Family Resources Survey (FRS) has been used to provide this estimate but sample sizes do not permit results at a regional level.
	 Notes:
	1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100,000.
	2. Administrative data do not hold this information as these two benefits are not cross-referenced on the administrative systems.
	3. The FRS collects information on the incomes and circumstances of private households in the United Kingdom. The FRS is a nationally representative sample, covering approximately 26,000 households in 2006-07.
	4. The estimates are based on sample counts that have been adjusted for non-response using multi-purpose grossing factors which align the FRS to Government office region populations by age and sex. Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining non-response error.
	5. The FRS undercounts benefit caseload receipt when compared to administrative data. In 2006-07 the FRS undercounted housing benefit by 12 per cent. and undercounted working tax credit by 19 per cent. It is not possible to calculate how this under-recording affects the estimate of the number of families receiving both working tax credit and housing benefit.
	6. A family refers to a benefit unit, which is defined as a single adult or a couple living as married and any dependent children. Same-sex partners (and cohabitees) are also included in the same benefit unit. Housing benefit and working tax credit are awarded on a benefit unit basis.
	7. Working tax credit is administered by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
	 Source:
	Family Resources Survey 2006-07.

State Retirement Pensions

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 1807-08W, on state retirement pensions 
	(1)  what the cost of the  (a) payments and  (b) administration of the age addition was in the last 12 months; and if he will estimate the cost of increasing the age addition to (i) 50p, (ii) £1, (iii) £5 and (iv) £10 in 2009-10;
	(2)  if he will estimate the cost of increasing the age addition to  (a) 50 pence,  (b) £1,  (c) £5 and  (d) £10 and linking it to (i) earnings and (ii) prices in each of the next five years; and how many people currently receive the addition.

Rosie Winterton: The estimated cost of payments of the age addition in the last 12 months is £35 million.
	The information is not available for the costs of administration of the age addition in the last 12 months. The Pension, Disability and Carers Service do not separately identify the administration costs of delivering the age addition to state pensions.
	The estimated cost of increasing the age addition to  (a) 50p,  (b) £1,  (c) £5 and  (d) £10 and linking it to prices and earnings in each of the next five years are shown in the following tables.
	
		
			  Table 1: Cost of increasing the age addition to (a) 50p in 2009-10 and (i) no linking, (ii) linking it to prices and (iii) earnings thereafter 
			   (i) No linking  (ii) Prices  (iii) Earnings 
			 2009-10 70 70 70 
			 2010-11 70 70 70 
			 2011-12 70 75 75 
			 2012-13 70 75 80 
			 2013-14 70 80 85 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2 : Cost of increasing the age addition to ( b) £1  in 2009-10 and (i) no linking, (ii) linking it to prices and (iii) earnings thereafter 
			   (i) No linking  (ii) Prices  (iii) Earnings 
			 2009-10 140 140 140 
			 2010-11 140 140 140 
			 2011-12 140 150 150 
			 2012-13 140 150 160 
			 2013-14 140 160 170 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3 : Cost of increasing the age addition to ( c) £5  in 2009-10 and (i) no linking, (ii) linking it to prices and (iii) earnings thereafter 
			   (i) No linking  (ii) Prices  (iii) Earnings 
			 2009-10 690 690 690 
			 2010-11 690 700 710 
			 2011-12 690 730 740 
			 2012-13 710 770 780 
			 2013-14 720 820 840 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 4 : Cost of increasing the age addition to ( d) £10  in 2009-10 and (i) no linking, (ii) linking it to prices and (iii) earnings thereafter 
			   (i) No linking  (ii) Prices  (iii) Earnings 
			 2009-10 1,380 1,380 1,380 
			 2010-11 1,380 1,410 1,410 
			 2011-12 1,380 1,450 1,470 
			 2012-13 1,420 1,550 1,570 
			 2013-14 1,450 1,630 1,670 
			  Notes: 1. The cost for payments of the age addition in the last 12 months is as of March 2008 and is in £ million, for Great Britain, in 2008-09 terms, rounded to the nearest £5 million. 2. For the costs of administration of the age addition in the last 12 months, most of the process is automated and the clerical elements are so minor that it is incorporated into normal daily actions and not identified separately. 3. In tables 1 to 4, costs are in £ million, for Great Britain, in 2008-09 terms. For values less than £100 million, rounding is to the nearest £5 million, otherwise, to the nearest £10 million. 4. Treasury Economic Assumptions have been used for linking the age addition to earnings and prices. 5. The estimated number of individuals who currently receive the age addition is as of March 2008.  Source: DWP modelling. 
		
	
	There are currently approximately 2.7 million individuals who receive the age addition.

Winter Fuel Payments

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what the  (a) average,  (b) lowest and  (c) highest number of days was between the conditions for a cold weather payment being met and the payment being made to eligible recipients in the last 12 months, broken down by weather station area;
	(2)  what the average time between the cold weather payments being triggered and payments being made was in respect of the most recent period of below-freezing temperatures when the payment has been made  (a) manually and  (b) automatically.

Kitty Ussher: The information is not available in the requested form.
	Triggers based on recorded periods of seven consecutive days are notified on the day after the last day of the recorded period. Triggers based on forecast periods of seven consecutive days are notified on the first day of the forecast period. (This holds except when a trigger would be notified on a Saturday or a Sunday, when it is actually notified on the following Monday.) Payment scans are run at a weekend for triggers notified on the previous Monday to Thursday or on the Friday prior to that. Scan payments into bank accounts should arrive on the Wednesday after the weekend and cheque payments should be posted on the Monday after the weekend. Thus scan payments into bank accounts should arrive seven to 13 days after the temperature criterion has been met. Payments made clerically are not made as quickly as payments which can be made automatically. Information is not available on the split between payments into bank accounts and cheque payments, or on the time taken to process clerical payments, so the two questions cannot be answered.

Winter Fuel Payments

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people held in  (a) Rampton,  (b) Broadmoor,  (c) Ashworth,  (d) Carstairs and  (e) Southall hospitals received the winter fuel payment in 2008-09.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not available.
	People qualify for a winter fuel payment if, during the qualifying week in September, they are aged 60 or over and normally living in Great Britain or Northern Ireland.
	Some groups of people do not qualify for a winter fuel payment. A person will not qualify for a payment if during the qualifying week they were in hospital getting free in-patient treatment and had been getting such treatment for more than 52 weeks or they were in custody serving a sentence imposed by a court.

TREASURY

Bank Services: Identity Theft

Jim Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the merits of identity theft insurance policies in relation to bank accounts; and what discussions his Department has had on the matter with  (a) the Association of British Insurers and  (b) the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Ian Pearson: The Government have established an independent system of financial regulation that works through the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the lead regulator and the Office of Fair Trading. The Treasury is not responsible for the merits of the design of individual insurance products.

Banks: Directors

Dai Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment the Financial Services Authority has made of whether the  (a) chief executive,  (b) chairman and  (c) board members of each bank in receipt of public money meet the fit and proper person test.

Ian Pearson: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is an independent non-governmental body, given statutory powers by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA). FSMA requires that persons carrying on certain controlled functions within an FSA authorised firm hold "approved person" status (including the "governing" functions such as executive director, non-executive director and CEO).
	Details of the regime and processes applied to assessing the fitness and propriety of a person to perform a particular controlled function can be found on the FSA's website at:
	http://www.fsa.gov.uk/Pages/Doing/Regulated/Approved/persons/index.shtml
	In March 2008 the FSA published its "lessons learned" review following the events at Northern Rock. The recommendations can be found at
	http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Library/Communication/PR/2008/028.shtml
	and include reference to the need to increase the emphasis on assessing the competence of firms' senior management.

Banks: Regulation

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require all financial businesses to register derivatives with the Financial Services Authority.

Ian Pearson: Section 19 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 requires that anyone dealing in, or arranging deals in, investments, be authorised by the Financial Services Authority. This includes firms or individuals trading in derivative products. The Government support the industry initiative to clear more credit default swaps through central counterparties (CCPs) and that the regulations for CCPs should be updated.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been claimed in reimbursable expenses by special advisers in his Department in 2008-09 to date.

Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 September 2008,  Official Report, column 1477W to the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban).

Economic Situation: Canada

Michael Ancram: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with his Canadian counterpart on the economic downturn.

Ian Pearson: The Government's immediate priority is to continue to support the economy through these difficult times. As part of that, in addition to its regular monitoring of developments, HM Treasury has regular engagements with other Governments, including Canada, on a range of issues relating to the economy.

Financial Services: Regulation

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what dates  (a) he, the Chairman of the Financial Services Authority and the Governor of the Bank of England and  (b) their deputies met in their capacity as principals of the tripartite regulatory system between 1997 and 2007.

Ian Pearson: The three authorities meet at a number of levels under the auspices of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on a very regular basis. As a matter of course, we do not comment on meetings of the Standing Committee.

Interbank Lending Scheme

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value of lending guaranteed by the Interbank Lending Scheme is.

Ian Pearson: On 8 October 2008, the Government announced, as part of a comprehensive package of measures, the Credit Guarantee Scheme. The scheme took effect on 13 October and assists eligible institutions in refinancing maturing wholesale funding. Banks have drawn down some £100 billion of guarantees.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton of 15 January 2009 on Mr. K. Williams.

Ian Pearson: A reply has been sent to the right hon. Member.

Mortgages: Repossession Orders

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government are taking to discourage banks from repossessing homes of people in mortgage arrears.

Ian Pearson: The Government introduced FSA regulation of mortgages in 2004. The FSA's regime provides important protections for borrowers. It requires lenders to treat their customers fairly, and to treat repossession as a last resort.
	FSA regulation is supported by the new mortgage pre-action protocol introduced in November 2008. This sets out clear guidance on what actions the courts expect lenders to take before bringing a claim in the courts, to help ensure that repossessions are a last resort and that lenders have tried to discuss and agree other alternatives with the borrower.
	Through the new Lending Panel, announced in the 2008 pre-Budget report, the Government are working closely with lenders, consumer groups and regulators to monitor lending and support best practice by lenders. The major lenders on the Lending Panel have committed not to repossess where the owner-occupier is less than three months in arrears.
	In December 2008, the Government announced a new Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme, which will enable households that experience a significant and temporary loss of income as a result of the economic downturn to defer a proportion of the interest payments on their mortgage for up to two years. Further details are available at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/buyingselling/mortgagesupportscheme/
	The Government have also launched a Mortgage Rescue Scheme to help borrowers facing repayment difficulties remain in their homes and this scheme has been extended to include second charge lending. Depending on homeowners' circumstances, local authorities and housing associations can either buy a property and then rent it back to them, or buy a share of the property to reduce the household's overall mortgage costs. More information is available at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/buyingselling/mortgagerescuemeasures/

National Debt

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on the maximum amount of public debt which should be permitted as a percentage of gross domestic product.

Yvette Cooper: The Government set out their policy on public debt in paragraphs 3.20 to 3.23 of the Government's Fiscal Framework, published alongside the 2008 pre-Budget report. This document is available at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/prebud_pbr08_fiscalframework.htm

Royal Bank of Scotland: Bank Services

Mark Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what instructions his Department has given to the Royal Bank of Scotland in relation to loan requests made by small and medium-sized businesses to cover bad debt.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 23 February 2009
	 Under the recapitalisation scheme announced last October, the Government have invested £19.97 billion in RBS. As part of their investment, the Government have agreed a range of commitments with RBS, including its restoring and maintaining the availability and active marketing of competitively priced lending to SMEs, at a level at least equivalent to that of 2007, until the end of 2011.
	On 26 February, RBS announced its intention to participate in the Government's Asset Protection Scheme. As part of its agreement with the Government, RBS will increase its lending to businesses by £16 billion in 2009.
	The Government's shareholdings in the banks supported by the recapitalisation scheme are managed on a commercial basis by an arm's length company, UK Financial Investments Ltd. (UKFI). UKFI's objective is to protect and create value for the taxpayer as shareholder with due regard to the maintenance of financial stability and to act in a way that promotes competition.

Royal Bank of Scotland: Sponsorship

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what role the directors of the Royal Bank of Scotland who are appointed by UK Financial Investments Ltd. have had in determining the bank's budget for sport sponsorship in 2009.

Ian Pearson: UK Financial Investments (UKFI) is the body set up to manage the Treasury's shareholding in recapitalised banks.
	As part of the recapitalisation scheme, UKFI has the right to agree with RBS management the appointment of new independent non-executive directors.
	The directors will serve on the RBS board, and as part of this, share with other directors responsibility for major strategic and operating decisions—including decisions on sponsorship spending.

UK Financial Investments

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many shares in  (a) Lloyds TSB,  (b) HBOS and  (c) the Royal Bank of Scotland were taken up by UK Financial Investments; and at what price.

Ian Pearson: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer my hon. Friend the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Angela Eagle) gave the hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr. Bone) on 12 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 2142-43W.

UK Financial Investments: Manpower

Greg Knight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many people employed by UK Financial Investments Ltd. are former employees of his Department;
	(2)  how many people are employed by UK Financial Investments Ltd.

Ian Pearson: UK Financial Investments Ltd. is not part of the civil service, but a small number of civil servants (around five) are expected to be seconded into it. Total staffing is currently expected to be around 15.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Departmental Data Protection

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Solicitor-General what percentage of contractors and suppliers to  (a) her Department and  (b) its agencies has reported compliance with the Government's security standards following publication of the report, Data Handling Procedures in Government, and the accompanying document, Cross-departmental Actions: Mandatory Minimum Action, on 25 June 2008.

Vera Baird: The Attorney-General's Office shares services with the Crown Prosecution Service, the Serious Fraud Office and the Treasury Solicitor's Department. All contractors and suppliers are compliant with the data handling report.

Departmental Data Protection

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Solicitor-General how many contracts  (a) her Department and  (b) its agencies have which allow contractors to store personal data of UK citizens overseas; for which contracts this applies; in which countries the data for each contract are held; and how many people have their data stored overseas in the case of each such contract.

Vera Baird: There are no such contracts in place.

Departmental Data Protection

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Solicitor-General when her Department appointed a senior information risk owner in accordance with the report, Data Handling Procedures in Government and the accompanying document Cross-departmental Actions: Mandatory Minimum Action; when the appointment was made; and what grade the person holds within the Department.

Vera Baird: This appointment was made in June 2008 and they are a senior civil servant.

Departmental Data Protection

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Solicitor-General what percentage of the IT systems in  (a) her Department and  (b) its agencies are fully accredited to the Government's security standards.

Vera Baird: 100 per cent. of the IT systems are fully accredited to the Government's security standards.

Departmental Written Questions

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Solicitor-General on how many occasions in the last 12 months Ministers in the Law Officers' Departments have used their discretion to rule that a parliamentary question for written answer should be answered because it would be in the public interest to do so, even though to do so would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold of £700.

Vera Baird: None

Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office

David Taylor: To ask the Solicitor-General what proportion of the  (a) drug smuggling,  (b) tax fraud,  (c) tobacco and alcohol duty evasion,  (d) illegal arms trafficking,  (e) money laundering and  (f) sanctions violation cases prosecuted by the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office since April 2005 resulted in convictions.

Vera Baird: The tables set out the information available. Data for 2005-06 are not accessible in a format compatible with the data set out as follows.
	
		
			  2008-09( 1) 
			   Cases  Defendants 
			   Prosecutions  Convictions  Conviction r ate (percentage)  Prosecutions  Convictions  Conviction r ate  (percentage) 
			 Drugs 579 535 92 711 627 88 
			 Tax Fraud 153 143 93 207 185 89 
			 Money Laundering 10 9 90 47 40 85 
			 Excise(2) 129 116 90 180 158 88 
			 Arms(3) 20 19 95 25 20 80 
			 Sanctions Violations 1 1 100 1 1 100 
			 (1) 2008-09 covers the period April 2008 to January 2009. (2) Excise cases include prosecutions for other excise and duty frauds i.e. hydrocarbon oils. (3) Arms cases include prosecutions for the importations of firearms, ammunition and offensive weapons. 
		
	
	
		
			  2007-08 
			   Cases  Defendants 
			   Prosecutions  Convictions  Conviction rate (percentage)  Prosecutions  Convictions  Conviction r ate  (percentage) 
			 Drugs 744 682 92 909 794 87 
			 Tax Fraud 264 240 91 381 328 86 
			 Money Laundering 27 19 70 54 35 65 
			 Excise 220 206 94 330 293 89 
			 Arms 17 16 94 18 17 94 
			 Sanctions Violations 2 2 100 2 2 100 
		
	
	
		
			  2006-07 
			   Cases  Defendants 
			   Prosecutions  Convictions  Conviction r ate (percentage)  Prosecutions  Convictions  Conviction rate  (percentage) 
			 Drugs 798 731 92 918 799 87 
			 Tax Fraud 251 227 90 311 258 83 
			 Money Laundering 17 13 76 45 26 58 
			 Excise 239 213 89 358 300 84 
			 Arms 6 4 67 6 4 67 
			 Sanctions Violations 2 2 100 2 2 100

Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office: Parking Offences

Francis Maude: To ask the Solicitor-General how much the HM Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office paid in  (a) parking and  (b) congestion charge fines in the last year for which figures are available.

Vera Baird: The Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO) was established as an independent prosecuting authority in April 2005, and is superintended by the Attorney-General. It is a separate Government Department from HM Revenue and Customs.
	During the calendar year 2008, RCPO paid £60 in parking fines.
	No payments were made in respect of congestion charge fines.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Public Inquiries: Costs

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse to date of all public inquiries taking place in Northern Ireland.

Shaun Woodward: The Bloody Sunday inquiry is expected to cost a total of £190 million, including costs incurred by the Ministry of Defence. The Hamill, Wright and Nelson Inquiries are expected to cost a combined total of £117 million. The total cost to the end of January 2009 of all four public inquiries is £267 million, of which 70 per cent. of those costs relate to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry.

Public Inquiries: Costs

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost of payments made to legal firms used by public inquiries taking place in Northern Ireland for which his Department is responsible has been to date.

Shaun Woodward: £127 million has been paid to all legal representatives for work in relation to the ongoing public inquiries. Almost £100 million of this relates to the Bloody Sunday inquiry, including costs incurred by the Ministry of Defence.
	Lessons were learned from the experience of the Bloody Sunday inquiry. For the Hamill, Wright and Nelson inquiries, caps on lawyers' hourly fees and the number of hours they could claim were imposed at the outset.

Paramilitary Organisations

Andrew MacKay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of current levels of activity of paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland.

Shaun Woodward: Dissident republican activity remains at a very high level. They remain determined to kill or injure police officers and have a reckless disregard for public safety. In relation to loyalists, this House has sent a very strong message that they have one last opportunity to decommission.

Republican Paramilitary Groups

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment he has made of links between dissident republican groups and drug-related crime in Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: The IMC has confirmed that dissident republican groups are involved in drug-related crime. The PSNI will continue to work with the other members of the Organised Crime Task Force to disrupt their criminal activities.

Vehicle Excise Duty

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on rates of vehicle excise duty evasion in Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: I have had no such discussions as Northern Ireland Office Ministers are not responsible for these matters. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport has responsibility for the registration and licensing of vehicles and the enforcement of vehicle excise duty across the UK.

Consultative Group on the Past

Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the recommendations of the Consultative Group on the Past; and if he will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: I am reflecting carefully on the proposals, and want to hear a wide range of views before developing the Government's full response.
	It is clear that there is no consensus on the recommendation of recognition payments and I have stated that the Government will not be accepting that recommendation. But this was just one of over 30 recommendations and I hope that the other proposals can now receive the careful consideration they deserve.

Saville Inquiry

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his most recent estimate is of the cost of the Saville inquiry.

Shaun Woodward: I have taken urgent steps to ensure the remaining running costs of the Bloody Sunday inquiry are kept as low as possible, and a package of measures has been agreed to reduce the projected cost by 20 per cent. over the remaining stages. The final cost of the inquiry is now expected to be in the region of £190 million.

Billy Wright Inquiry

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much the Wright inquiry has spent on security for  (a) legal companies and  (b) witnesses.

Shaun Woodward: I am advised that the Billy Wright inquiry has spent £577,000 on security to the end of January 2009. There have been no specific costs associated with providing security for either legal teams or witnesses.

Robert Hamill Inquiry

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much the Hamill inquiry has spent on security  (a) overall and  (b) for (i) legal companies and (ii) witnesses.

Shaun Woodward: I am advised that the Robert Hamill inquiry has spent £641,000 on security to the end of January 2009. There have been no specific costs associated with providing security for either legal companies or witnesses.

Rosemary Nelson Inquiry

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much the Nelson inquiry has spent on security for  (a) legal companies and  (b) witnesses.

Shaun Woodward: I am advised that the Rosemary Nelson inquiry has spent £957,000 on security to the end of January 2009. There have been no specific costs associated with providing security for either legal teams or witnesses.

Royal Ulster Constabulary: Reserve Forces

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will bring forward proposals formally to recognise the work of part-time reserve officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

Paul Goggins: Service within the PTR is already recognised in a number of ways:
	unlike special constables in GB, the part-time reserve are paid, in recognition of the special circumstances in which they operate in Northern Ireland;
	PTR are awarded the long service medal after 15 years' service;
	the specific conditions in Northern Ireland have been recognised by payment of a NI transitional allowance to all police officers from 1974, including the PTR on a 'pro rata' basis;
	a stakeholder pension scheme was introduced in 2001 to provide pension provisions for all part-time workers. Favourable rates were secured for PTR members; and
	the Secretary of State recently paid tribute to the men and women of the PTR during a reception at Hillsborough Castle in recognition of the service of members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary Part-Time Reserve on 11 October 2008.
	I have sought information and advice from officials on how this Government might make further recognition for the service given by the Part-Time Reserve and I am currently considering this.

Terrorism

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent assessment he has had made of levels of paramilitary violence in Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: The Chief Constable has made it clear that the dissident republican threat has increased in recent months. Loyalists must continue to make progress and take advantage of the recent extension to the decommissioning legislation.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Alcoholic Drinks: Young People

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children under the age of 15 years have been cautioned or arrested for drunken behaviour in  (a) North Wiltshire,  (b) Wiltshire,  (c) London and  (d) England in each of the last 10 years.

Alan Campbell: Cautions, reprimands and final warnings data are collected centrally at police force area level and are not further broken down. Therefore data for the constituency of North Wiltshire are not available.
	The number of persons aged under 15-years issued with a caution for offences of drunkenness in the Wiltshire police force area, the Metropolitan police force area (including the City of London) and England, from 1998 to 2007, are given in the following table.
	
		
			  N umber of persons aged under 15-years cautioned( 1)  for offences of drunkenness, by area, 1998 to 2007( 2, 3, 4) 
			   Wiltshire  p olice  f orce  a rea  Metropolitan  p olice  f orce  a rea( 5)  England 
			 1998 2 — 44 
			 1999 3 — 24 
			 2000(6) — 6 30 
			 2001 — 2 19 
			 2002 — 2 8 
			 2003 — 5 17 
			 2004 — 3 30 
			 2005 — — 18 
			 2006 — — 14 
			 2007 — — 8 
			 (1) From 1 June 2000 the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and final warnings. These figures have been included in the totals. (2) These data are on the principal offence basis. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4) Includes the following statutes and corresponding offence descriptions:  Licensing Act 1872 s.12 Being found drunk in a highway or other public place. Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act 1985 ss.l(4) and 1A(4) Drunk on a vehicle Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act 1985 s.2(2) Drunk in, or when entering, a designated sports event. Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 s.12 Alcohol consumption in designated public places. Offences against similar provisions in Local Acts (5) Includes the City of London police force area. (6) Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.  Source:  Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis Unit [Our ref: IOS 95-09]

Alternatives to Prison

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of community service alternatives to prison sentences in reducing rates of re-offending; and if she will make a statement.

David Hanson: I have been asked to reply.
	The following table shows the latest re-offending figures for people who were released from a custodial sentence, or commenced a court order under probation supervision, between 1 January 2006 and 31 March 2006. The table shows the number of offenders in the cohort, the proportion of offenders that committed at least one further offence and the number of further offences committed per 100 offenders.
	
		
			   Number of offenders  Actual re-offending rate  Number of offences per 100 offenders 
			 Court Orders(1) 36,777 36.1 121.7 
			 Custody 14,380 46.5 208.4 
			 (1 )Court orders include pre-CJA 2003 community sentences, new community orders and suspended sentence orders. 
		
	
	These statistics should not be compared to assess the effectiveness of sentences as there is no control for known differences in offender characteristics. There are known differences between characteristics of these two groups of offender which may affect the choice of disposal, such as number of previous offences.
	For a time series, and more detailed breakdown of the aforementioned table, please see table A5 in the publication Re-offending of .Adults: results of the 2006 cohort:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/reoffendingofadults.htm
	The Government want community sentences to be tough, effective and visible. Part of this programme of work has been creating seven Intensive Alternatives to Custody (IAC) demonstrator projects, which provide intensively delivered and supervised community sentence options to courts as an alternative to short-term custody. These projects were announced by the Justice Secretary on 5 December 2007 and the first project commenced operations in March 2008. The seven projects will run for three years and will be subject to a rigorous evaluation to be delivered in 2011.

Antisocial Behaviour: Fixed Penalties

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many enhanced disclosures issued by the Criminal Records Bureau have disclosed penalty notices for disorder.

Meg Hillier: The Criminal Records Bureau does not hold this information.

Asylum

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many local authorities had signed up to take part in the Gateway refugee programme on 31 January 2009.

Meg Hillier: There are 15 local authorities currently participating in the Gateway protection programme.

Crime Prevention: International Cooperation

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps she has taken to  (a) monitor compliance with those United Nations conventions on drug control which have been ratified by the UK and  (b) assist the work of the International Narcotics Control Board.

Alan Campbell: The UK has ratified three United Nations conventions on drug control—the 1961 single convention on narcotic drugs, the 1971 convention on psychotropic substances and the 1988 convention against the illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. The 1961 and 1971 conventions form the basis of drug control in the UK and are given effect through the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Compliance with the UN conventions is, therefore, an ongoing process through the daily operation of the 1971 Act and its subordinate legislation. As custodian of the UN conventions, the Home Office supports the work of the International Narcotics Control Board by supplying manufacturing and transaction data and ensuring industry adherence to the statutory controls, both national and international, through a system of vetting and licensing of those companies involved in the manufacture and trade of controlled substances.

Crimes of Violence: Football

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she plans to take to reduce violence by spectators at football matches.

Alan Campbell: Serious violence at football matches is now extremely rare compared to the period between 1970 and 2000. On average there is just one arrest in connection with football matches played in England and Wales; and that covers arrests at any place within 24 hours either side of a match.
	The English and Welsh football strategy for minimising football safety and security risks introduced after Euro 2000 has proven to be very successful. The strategy is based upon effective partnerships between Government, police, football authorities and supporter groups and on the concept of isolating risk fans whilst empowering the overwhelming majority of fans to take responsibility for their actions and self-police.
	The football banning order arrangements introduced in 2000 continue to be a highly effective cornerstone of the strategy and an important means for excluding known risk fans and deterring misbehaviour amongst the rest. The orders have proven to be a highly successful rehabilitative measure with around 94 per cent. of individuals whose orders have expired being assessed by police as no longer posing a risk of football disorder.
	The strategy is now universally recognised as the best in the world and is being replicated around the globe. However, there can and will be no complacency.

Customs Officers: Manpower

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many front-line customs officers work at each port on the UK border.

Phil Woolas: Through intelligence-led and risk-based interventions by flexible and mobile teams the UK Border Agency aims to maintain a permanent cover of all points of entry into the UK.
	Nationally there are approximately 4,500 front line customs officers that are now part of the UK Border Agency.
	More detailed information cannot be disclosed as this would provide information of value to those seeking to circumvent the controls, thereby prejudicing the prevention and detection of crime.

Departmental Consultants

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of her Department's contracts with management consultants was in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: The Home Department engages consultancy firms to support and augment civil servants in the delivery of a wide range of work, including large IT development programmes and, where more cost effective, longer-term service delivery programmes.
	The Department's expenditure on these services is consequently allocated across a wide range of firms, from small, specialist companies with niche expertise and few employees, to global multinational organisations offering a broad spectrum and substantial depth of consultancy expertise.
	The Department's policy seeks to award contracts in competition according to the EU Procurement Directives based on value for money.
	The Department uses OGC framework agreements where appropriate. The use of external consultants provides the Department with specialist knowledge, skill, capacity and technical expertise that would not otherwise be available.
	We are able to provide figures for consultancy expenditure for the previous three complete financial years. Owing to an accounting systems change prior to that time we are unable to provide equivalent figures for the two earlier years.
	The Home Department's expenditure including its executive agencies (United Kingdom Border Agency, Identity and Passport Service and Criminal Records Bureau) rounded to nearest £1 million in the financial years 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2007-08 on consultancy services is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Table 1 
			  Financial year  Consultancy expenditure  (£ million) 
			 2005-06 139 
			 2006-07 148 
			 2007-08 96

Departmental Freedom of Information

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Freedom of Information Act 2000 requests to her Department were refused on the ground of cost in  (a) 2006,  (b) 2007 and  (c) January to June 2008.

Phil Woolas: Figures for the number of occasions in 2006 and 2007 information has been withheld in full using section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act because the cost of providing a response would exceed the cost limit have been published in the 2006 and 2007 annual reports on the operation of the FOI Act in Central Government.
	 2006
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/foi-annual-report-central-gov-2006.pdf
	 2007
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/foi-report-2007-final-web.pdf
	In the period January-June 2008 the number of request received and refused on grounds of cost was 124.

Departmental Work Experience

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals have worked in her Department on  (a) paid and  (b) unpaid work experience or internships in each of the last three years; on average how many hours a week were worked by such people in each year; what types of work each was involved in; what proportion were in full-time education; what proportion did not complete their set period of work experience; and how much those who received remuneration were paid on average per week in each year.

Phil Woolas: The Home Offers provides around 30 placements annually to graduates and undergraduates from a minority ethnic background and/or a registered disability. They are paid an allowance within the executive officer range.
	The information requested on unpaid work experience is not recorded centrally in the Home Office or its agencies. Work experience placements are authorised and organised locally by managers in business units.

Deportation: Offenders

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer given to the hon. Member for Beaconsfield of 20 November 2008,  Official Report, column 720W, on deportation: offenders, what progress has been made on  (a) the 11 cases where her Department is seeking to deport individuals on grounds of national security because of their suspected involvement in terrorism and  (b) the 19 cases where action on national security grounds was commenced but later discontinued.

Vernon Coaker: Of the 11 cases we are seeking to deport on national security grounds 10 remain at various stages of the deportation and appeals process including the European Court of Human Rights. Deportation proceedings have ceased against one individual as it was considered that such action was no longer appropriate due to the circumstances of the case.
	There has been no change in the 19 cases where deportation was discontinued.

Detention Centres

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent representations she has received from non-governmental organisations on the operation of immigration removal centres in the UK.

Phil Woolas: The UK Border Agency detention services who are responsible for the operation of the immigration detention estate have not received any recent representations from non-governmental organisations on the operation of removal centres in the UK.
	However, quarterly meetings are held between UKBA detention services and representatives from non-governmental organisations under the heading of the detention user group. This forum gives representatives the opportunity to raise any concerns they may have regarding the operation of removal centres and detention in general and for the agency to update them on any operational or policy developments.

Driving Offences

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many motorists were  (a) charged with and  (b) convicted of (i) failure to accord precedence at pedestrian crossings, (ii) failure to comply with traffic signs, (iii) speeding offences, (iv) driving after consuming alcohol or taking drugs, (v) reckless driving and (vi) driving while disqualified in each police force area in 2007-08.

Alan Campbell: Available information held by the Ministry of Justice covering total findings of guilt at all courts, for 2006 and 2007, is provided in tables A-F placed in the House Library.
	Data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many international students who have been enrolled in courses of longer than four years duration have been granted visas in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: Figures are as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2004 6,186 
			 2005 6,482 
			 2006 7,776 
			 2007 6,838 
			 2008 6,971

Foreign Workers: Agriculture

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many migrant workers were employed in agriculture in the UK in each month of each of the last three years.

Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated March 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many migrant workers were employed in agriculture in the UK in each month of each of the last three years. (258818)
	Reliable estimates for non-UK born people employed in agriculture are not available.

Identity Cards: Airports

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate her Department has made of the number of airside workers in each airport who will be enrolled in the identity card scheme.

Meg Hillier: The Identity and Passport Service is working closely with Manchester and London city airports to confirm the roll-out approach for identity cards, taking account of the numbers working airside at each airport.

Identity Cards: Domestic Violence

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions her Department has had with organisations representing women who have been victims of domestic violence about the registration of third parties' addresses on national identity cards.

Meg Hillier: As the cardholder's address will not be held on the identity card it will assist anyone who wishes to assert their identity without revealing their address.
	Several different organisations have contributed to discussions on how the Identity and Passport Service will be able to accommodate the needs of vulnerable individuals who want extra assurance that their identity information will be held securely, including groups representing the needs of survivors of domestic violence.

Illegal Immigrants

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she has had at European level on  (a) harmonisation of legislation on family re-unification,  (b) medical assistance for illegal migrants and  (c) admitting the children of illegal migrants to schools.

Phil Woolas: Home Office Ministers have not taken part in any recent discussions at European level on these specific topics. EU legislation on asylum and immigration matters, apart from rights of free movement for EEA nationals and their family members, is subject to the UK's opt-in protocol. We will opt in only if this is consistent with maintaining our frontier controls and in the national interest.
	In respect of family reunification, to date the UK has not opted into the Family Reunification Directive. In respect of illegal immigration, I strongly support the principle stated in the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, which calls for illegal migrants to be removed to their countries of origin and transit.

Illegal Immigrants: Deportation

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal immigrants were deported in 2007-08 to each country of origin; what modes of transport were used in relation to each country; how many such people were refused entry to their destination country; and what happened to each such person.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office publishes statistics on the number of persons removed and departed voluntarily from the UK, broken down by destination, on a quarterly and annual basis. National statistics on immigration and asylum are placed in the Library of the House and are available from the Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
	Statistics covering the fourth quarter of 2008 up to December were published on 24 February.
	Enforced removals to all countries are generally undertaken via a combination of scheduled or charter flights.
	There are a variety of reasons why a person, during the removals process, may be refused entry to their country of destination. Due to this each case will be handled differently. Generally the person will be returned to the UK and re-enter the removals process.
	The number of individuals refused entry to their destination country and what happens to them is not centrally recorded. The information requested could be obtained only by the detailed examination of individual case records at disproportionate cost.

Immigration

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with which countries of origin of migrants the UK has readmission agreements; when each such agreement was signed; and with which countries her Department is negotiating such agreements.

Phil Woolas: The UK has always maintained the position that all countries are under an obligation to readmit their own nationals who are removed from another country, independently of readmission agreements. The UK wants to build international alliances to help deliver our policies. A key element of this is to co-operate on migration through bilateral and multilateral relationships with other countries. To this end the UK has formal agreements and informal arrangements with various countries to readmit their nationals.
	Only where there is a specific need does the UK seek to negotiate readmission agreements. There is a bilateral readmission agreement in force with Switzerland, signed on 16 December 2005, and we also have another with Algeria which was signed on 11 July 2006. There are currently no negotiations being undertaken for a bilateral readmission agreement with any third country.
	The UK also works closely with our European partners in the area of returns. The European Union has its own framework of agreements called European Community Readmission Agreements (ECRA). These are negotiated and signed by the European Commission on behalf of the member states and Ministers decide on the UK's opt-in position to these agreements.
	There are 11 European Community readmission agreements which have been signed and are now in force as follows:
	Hong Kong signed on—27 November 2002
	Macao signed on—13 October 2003
	Sri Lanka signed on—4 June 2004
	Albania signed on—14 April 2005
	Russia signed on—25 May 2006
	Ukraine signed on—18 June 2007
	Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia signed on—18 September 2007
	Serbia signed on—18 September 2007
	Montenegro signed on—18 September 2007
	Bosnia Herzegovina signed on—18 September 2007
	Moldova signed on—10 October 2007
	There are also open ECRA mandates with the following countries, but these are at various stages of negotiation and agreements have yet to be signed: China, Pakistan, Algeria, Morocco, Turkey and Georgia. The UK has opted into all ECRAs negotiated so far, and to all negotiating mandates proposed to date.

Immigration: Manpower

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of her Department's front-line immigration staff are working  (a) in Calais and  (b) in France outside Calais.

Phil Woolas: The number of front-line immigration staff working in France as at end of January 2009, stated as full time equivalents, are set out as follows:
	
		
			  Area of France  Number of staff stated as full- time equivalents 
			 Calais 399.15 
			 In France outside Calais 319.80

Immigration: Manpower

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many front-line immigration officers are working at each port on the UK border.

Phil Woolas: The numbers of immigration officers working within each regional operations area on the UK border are as follows:
	
		
			  Region  Number of front-line immigration staff( 1) 
			 North 483.3 
			 South 626.0 
			 Central 477.9 
			 Heathrow 1,112.6 
			 European operations 945.35 
			 Total 3,645.15 
			 (1) Expressed as full-time equivalents. Includes assistant immigration officers; immigration officers; chief immigration officers, and inspectors.  Note: Figures have been quoted according to regional command, as staff are deployed on a risk-assessed, intelligence-led basis to smaller ports within their operational region.

Immigration: Manpower

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of her Department's front-line immigration staff are working in Belgium.

Phil Woolas: The number of front-line immigration staff working in Belgium as at end of January 2009, stated as full-time equivalents, is 30.
	In addition to this, UK border force operates a European operations mobile response team, which deploys staff to Zeebrugge and Ostend to conduct vehicle searches and provide assistance with dog patrols, in conjunction with the Belgian federal police.

Migrant Workers

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to provide information to migrant workers on their employment rights.

Phil Woolas: We include information material in the registration pack for accession state workers registering with UKBA. Furthermore, we provide all workers registration scheme and A2 applicants with the TUC booklet "Working in the UK" explaining their rights at work.
	The employment pages of the UKBA website provide useful links to relevant material including the TUC booklet.

Official Cars

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what cars are  (a) owned,  (b) leased,  (c) hired and  (d) otherwise regularly used by her Department, broken down by cubic capacity of engine.

Phil Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. Hoon) on 26 January 2009,  Official Report, column 10W, about cars provided by the Government Car and Despatch Agency.
	The Home Department and its Executive Agencies operates other official cars and details of these are provided in the following table broken down by cubic capacity of engine.
	
		
			   Cars 
			   1000 to 1400 cc  1401 to 1700 cc  1701 to 2200 cc  Over 2200 cc 
			  Owned vehicles 
			 UKBA vehicles 1 9 36 0 
			 Core home office 0 1 1 0 
			 Police(1) 0 1 18 6 
			 IPS 1 0 1 0 
			 Total 2 11 56 6 
			  
			  Leased vehicles only 
			 UKBA vehicles 20 163 184 0 
			 Core home office 0 0 2 0 
			 Police(2) 0 1 0 0 
			 Total 20 164 186 0 
			  
			  Hire vehicles—covering first three quarters of this financial year 2008-09 
			 Home office(3) 798 593 977 85 
			 IPS(3) 44 75 194 10 
			 CRB(3) 16 42 100 8 
			 Total 858 710 1271 103 
			 (1) Police vehicles are owned by the police service but used solely for Home Departments business. (2) Police vehicle is leased by the police service but used solely for Home Departments business. (3) April to December 2008-09.

Organised Crime

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been charged with criminal offences as a result of investigations conducted by the Serious Organised Crime Agency in  (a) 2006-07,  (b) 2007-08 and  (c) the first six months of this financial year.

Alan Campbell: The information is as follows:
	 (a) The 2006-07 annual report stated that SOCA casework in the UK led to 749 arrests, 283 cases reaching court and 271 convictions. Data on the number of individuals charged for that period are not available.
	 (b) In 2007-08, 345 people were charged in the UK as a result of SOCA casework.
	 (c) The figures for the first six months of 2008-09 are subject to internal validation and will be finalised at the end of the current financial year.

Police: Demonstrations

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her estimate is of the number of police hours spent on policing public protests in the last 12 months; and how much of the policing budget was allocated for such work in 2008-09.

Vernon Coaker: The Home Office does not hold data on number of police hours spent on policing public protests or a breakdown of police budgets dedicated to such work.

Police: Manpower

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) police officers and  (b) police community support officers there were in each London local authority area in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2008-09; and what the total strength of the Metropolitan police service was in each of those years.

Vernon Coaker: Police personnel statistics are collected by police force area and not by local authority. However, there are strength data available at basic command unit level, which within London equates with local authority, from 2002-03 onwards.
	There were 26,667 full-time equivalent police officers working for the Metropolitan police and 859 working for City of London police as at 31 March 1997. Police community support officers were not introduced until 2002-03. Data for the current financial year will not be published until July 2009. Police service strength data for 2007-08 can be found at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs08/hosb0808.pdf
	and supplementary tables for strength at BCU level at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs08/hosb0808add_tab.xls

Police: Manpower

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers are working at each port of entry on the UK border.

Vernon Coaker: Police personnel statistics are not collected within the Home Office by UK ports, but rather by police force authorities in England and Wales only. Following consultation with ACPO, data regarding police officers whose primary function is "ports" are, under section 31 (Law Enforcement) of the Freedom of Information Act, withheld from the public domain as disclosure may be likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.

Reoffenders: Crime Prevention

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate she has made of the effectiveness of  (a) secure remand and  (b) tagging in reducing re-offending rates.

David Hanson: I have been asked to reply.
	To our knowledge no estimates have been made on the impact of secure remand. There is little evidence available on the impact of tagging in reducing re-offending rates.
	In a 2006 House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts report this lack of evidence in relation to the effectiveness of Home Detention Curfew (HDC) was highlighted and a request for further research made. As a result of this a feasibility study on assessing the effectiveness of HDC was commissioned to the London School of Economics and research using existing administrative data has now been conducted. Publication of the report is expected by mid-2009.
	Research carried out for the Home Office and published in 2001 showed a difference in re-offending rates within six months of release between those released on HDC compared with those not given HDC. However this was not determined to prove that HDC reduced re-offending but that the risk assessment process was effective. The results of the most recent research mentioned above will provide an important contribution to our knowledge of the impact of HDC.

Telecommunications: Databases

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2009,  Official Report, column 1630W, on telecommunications: databases, what her most recent estimate is of the cost of the Interception Modernisation Programme to the nearest billion pounds.

Vernon Coaker: The IMP will require a substantial level of investment which will need to tie in with the Government's three-year CSR periods. The scale of overall economic investment is very difficult to calculate because of the complexity of the programme and wide-ranging implementation solutions currently being considered. Further detail on budgetary estimates for the IMP will however become available once the public consultation process (announced by the Home Secretary on 15 October 2008) commences.

Telephone Services: Commuters

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what estimate has been made of the cost of providing a personal telephone line for commuters to call to be told their safest route home over the next five years; and how much would be spent on  (a) staff costs,  (b) IT costs and  (c) advertising;
	(2)  what estimate has been made of the number of people who would use a personal telephone line for commuters to call to be told their safest route home over the next five years;
	(3)  what IT systems her Department has considered for use in locating callers to a telephone line for commuters to be told their safest route home;
	(4)  whether  (a) focus groups and  (b) polling were used by her Department to assess the proposal of a personal telephone line for commuters to call to be told their safest route home.

Alan Campbell: The Home Office has not done any work to develop a personal telephone line for commuters to call to be told their safest route home.

UK Border Agency: Inspections

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what work the UK Border Agency chief inspector has undertaken since his appointment; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: Since his appointment the independent chief inspector has been undertaking a wide range of preparatory work to establish his function. He has recruited around 20 staff and has developed provisional methodology and protocols for his inspections, drawing on best practice from other inspection and regulatory bodies. He has worked with the independent monitor to see the work she undertakes; met key managers in UK Borders Agency and visited a range of operations. He has also engaged with an extensive range of external stakeholders, including welfare groups, other inspectorates, legal bodies, passenger and freight carriers and representatives of foreign Governments. The chief inspector will shortly commence a series of pilot inspections.

Westminster City Council: Finance

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what grants her Department has made to Westminster city council in each year since 2005-06; what sums were awarded; in what category each grant was made; and how much has been allocated for grants in 2009-10.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office has made the following grants to Westminster city council.
	
		
			  £ 
			  Grant  Category  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 Safer Stronger Communities Fund Resource 435,027 435,027 373,882 373,882 373,882 
			 Safer Stronger Communities Fund Capital 126,140 126,140 126,140 126,140 126,140 
			 Drugs Intervention Programme Resource 2,304,818 1,568,474 2,016,349 2,046,595 2,046,595 
			 Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking Children (UASC) Resource 2,473,010 1,408,609 915,311 578,695 (1)— 
			 EU Accession Claim Resource 0 192,347 33,651 0 0 
			 Safer Streets Resource 0 107,000 106,000 0 0 
			 Enabling Resource 135,000 140,000 140,000 0 0 
			 Young People Substance Misuse Partnership Resource 588,610 530,176 500,734 142,615 142,615 
			 (1) To be confirmed. 
		
	
	For the former young people substance misuse partnership grant, from 2008-09, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), Home Office and the Department of Health agreed to change how their contributions were dispersed to local areas.
	Patterns of drug, alcohol and volatile substance use by young people vary greatly from place to place, so the Government moved to a more flexible and local needs-led approach to tackling the problem.
	Some of the former young people substance misuse partnership grant is going out to all areas through the area-based grant which is paid on a non-ring fenced basis to allow maximum local flexibility. Other elements are paid to primary care trusts through the pooled treatment budget and to youth offending teams through the Youth Justice Board. These funding arrangements are in place between 2008-09 to 2010-11.
	The Home Office allocation to Westminster city council 2008-09 to 2010-11 for this grant is as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			 Area-Based Grant 142,615 
			 Youth Offending Teams 39,644 
		
	
	The enabling grant is for the London Regional Migration Strategic Partnership. Payments were made via Westminster council who, along with the Greater London authority (GLA), represents the partnership. From 2008-09, payments are being made via the GLA.
	The Drug Intervention Programme funding is made up of the main grant of £1,196,447 plus Advance Apprenticeship £5,000 and CJIT funding of £367,027.
	There may also be additional grant payments funded by the Home Office that are received by Westminster city council, for instance, tackling violent crime programme grant and partnership performance improvement fund. However, the funding is not direct from the Home Office, but is channelled through Government offices. As such, information on specific allocations or payments made throughout the requested period is not retained by the Home Office.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Bus Services: Concessions

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make it her policy to measure the number of day visitors to local authority areas in order to facilitate the provision of funding for concessionary bus fares through Formula Grant.

John Healey: We use a model to determine the indicator of day visitors within the Environmental, Protective and Cultural Services Relative Needs Formula. There is no consistent reliable source of the number of day visitors to an authority's area.

Cambridge Online Learning

Eric Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 17 July 2008, whether the Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber has completed its investigation into the circumstances of the award of EU Objective 1 funding to Cambridge Online Learning Ltd; and if she will make a statement.

John Healey: Government office for Yorkshire and the Humber has recently completed its investigation into the award and potential loss of Objective 1 ERDF funds to Cambridge Online. It has concluded that ERDF payments made to Cambridge Online were irregular. Cambridge Online received ERDF payments through a contract with Business Link South Yorkshire. The funds involved have been recovered from Business Link South Yorkshire.

Community Relations: Religion

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding  (a) her Department and  (b) each Government Office for the Regions has provided to each regional faith community to date.

Sadiq Khan: Face to Face and Side by Side: A framework for partnership in our multi faith society was launched on 21 July 2008, and sets out how, over the next three years, CLG will support a stronger dialogue between people of different faiths and beliefs in every community by encouraging practical inter faith cooperation and collaborative social action.
	The practical steps that Government will take to support the delivery of the Framework for Partnership includes a programme of investment over three years in Regional Faith Forums (2008 to 2011) to support and build their capacity and the capacity of local communities.
	The following table sets out the amounts which each Regional Faith Forum has received, to date, from CLG or from a Government office.
	
		
			  (a) Faith Forum  2008-09 (total to date)(£) 
			 East 91,362.50 
			 East Midlands 90,000.00 
			 London 86,073.59 
			 North East 107,092.00 
			 North West 0.00 
			 South East 91,550.00 
			 South West 87,958.00 
			 West Midlands 99,798.00 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 87,000.00 
		
	
	 (b) In addition, Government offices have funded Regional Faith Forums, as follows:
	
		
			   Funds (£) 
			 North East 10,000.00 
			 South East 17,000.00 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 20,000.00

Eco-Towns: Middle Quinton

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make an assessment of 
	(1)  the Middle Quinton Eco-Town Proposals: Independent Viability Assessment commissioned from CB Richard Ellis by the Joint Authorities Eco-Town Working Group of Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  the report by Advantage West Midlands on Economic Evaluation of the Middle Quinton Eco-Town Proposal commissioned by the Joint Authorities Eco-Town Working Group of Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  the review by Colliers CRE of the Initial Retail Capacity Assessment of the Middle Quinton Eco-Town proposal commissioned by the Joint Authorities Eco-Town Working Group of Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire; and if she will make a statement;
	(4)  the report by Ove Arup and Partners on Middle Quinton Eco-Town: Review of Strategic Transport Assessment commissioned by the Joint Authorities Eco-Town Working Group of Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett: holding answer 3 March 2009
	I welcome the additional technical assessment reports that have been commissioned by local councils in the locations of the shortlisted eco-towns, including Middle Quinton. Together with the consultation documents, which I published on 4 November 2008, and the financial viability study, which I expect to publish shortly, these reports and similar material in other localities will help to inform the responses of local councils, and others to the second stage consultation. This will provide us with a good base upon which to make our decisions on those locations with potential to be an eco-town and which should be included in the Eco-towns Planning Policy Statement. We have also extended the consultation deadline until 30 April to ensure that all parties, irrespective of their views, are given the full opportunity to have their say.

Audit Commission

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Audit Commission charged each fire and rescue authority in each region in  (a) value added tax,  (b) fixed element fees,  (c) fees based on gross expenditure and  (d) total in respect of audit fees in each year since 2003.

John Healey: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the Chief Executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member direct.
	 Letter from Steve Bundred:
	I have been asked to respond to your Parliamentary Question about how much the Audit Commission has charged each fire and rescue authority in each region since 2003.
	It is not possible to provide an analysis of audit fees in the form you have requested. While the statutory scale fee is made up of a fixed element and an element that varies according to gross expenditure, the actual fees charged to each fire and rescue authority may vary from the scale fee, reflecting the auditor's professional assessment of risk and the complexity of the audit.
	We cannot provide complete information on Value Added Tax paid, as it is payable on audit fees at the prevailing rate at the time that a fee, or part thereof, is invoiced. We do not hold billing information for the approximately one third of audits where firms are the appointed auditors.
	We are currently analysing the information we do hold, so that we can give you as helpful a breakdown as possible of the fees charged. I will write to you again by 6 March, providing this information for the period from 2003 to 2007. Audit fees for 2007/08 audits will only be finalised when it is clear that all audit work for that financial year has been completed, when all variations from the scale fee will need to be approved formally by the Commission Board.
	A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.

Audit Commission

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Audit Commission charged each public service in each region in  (a) value added tax,  (b) fixed element fees,  (c) fees based on gross expenditure and  (d) total in respect of audit fees in each year since 1997.

John Healey: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the Chief Executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member direct.
	 Letter from Steve Bundred:
	I have been asked to respond to your Parliamentary Question about how much the Audit Commission has charged each public service in each region since 1997.
	We cannot provide detailed information back to 1997, as we are required to retain financial records for six years only.
	The way we have constructed scales of audit fees over the period has varied. In 2000/01 we moved from a per diem, input-based scale to an output based approach, known as 'fee for the audit'.
	It is not possible to provide an analysis of audit fees in the form you have requested. While the statutory scale fee is made up of a fixed element and an element that varies according to gross expenditure, the actual fees charged to each audited body may vary from the scale fee, reflecting the auditor's professional assessment of risk and the complexity of the audit.
	We cannot provide complete information on Value Added Tax paid, as it is payable on audit fees at the prevailing rate at the time that a fee, or part thereof, is invoiced. We do not hold billing information for the approximately one third of audits where firms are the appointed auditors.
	However, we are currently analysing the information we do hold, so that we can give you as helpful a breakdown as possible of the fees charged. I will write to you again with this information by 13 March.
	A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.

Local Government Finance: Greater London

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the percentage change in the rate support grant settlement for each London local authority in  (a) cash and  (b) real terms has been since 1990.

John Healey: It is not possible to provide these data on a like for like (that is, comparable) basis.
	The Department only holds data on year-on-year changes in formula grant on a like-for-like basis from 1997-98. This is because it only became necessary to make these calculations when guarantees were introduced to ensure that no authority could lose grant year-on-year on a like-for-like basis.
	It is not possible to provide data on the change across the period 1997-98 to date since we do not adjust data earlier than the previous year on a like-for-like basis.

Local Government Services: Essex

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what assessment her Department has made of the likely effects of Transformational Services and Delivery Support, the procurement exercise being proposed by Essex county council, on service delivery; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what discussions her Department has had with representatives of Essex county council on its proposed Transformational Services and Delivery Support procurement exercise;
	(3)  what assessment she has made of the extent to which Essex county council's proposed procurement exercise, Transformational Services and Delivery Support, complies with her Department's guidance on involving the workforce in transfer issues in Best Value contained in Annex C of ODPM circular 2003/03.

John Healey: Subject to their legal duties, including the duty of Best Value and public procurement law, local authorities are responsible for taking their own procurement decisions. The Department has no plans to assess the likely effects of the procurement exercise being proposed by Essex county council. However, the Department has sought factual background information from the council on its procurement proposals.
	In undertaking their procurement activities, local authorities will need to have regard to relevant guidance, including that on workforce matters in ODPM Circular 03/2003 and on Best Value in Creating Strong, Safe and Prosperous Communities: Statutory Guidance (July 2008). Any concerns that a local authority has not achieved best value should be addressed to the auditor in the first instance.

Microgeneration: Planning Permission

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many micro-generation installations on non-domestic buildings required full planning permission in  (a) 2006,  (b) 2007 and  (c) 2008.
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2009,  Official Report, column 118W, on microgeneration, when she first advised the micro-power industry of plans to consult on the introduction of permitted development rights on the installation of micro-generation units on non-domestic buildings; and if she will make a statement.

Iain Wright: Planning applications for the installation of non-domestic micro-generation installations are considered by local planning authorities on a case-by-case basis and information on the number of such installations that required planning permission is not available centrally.
	A commitment was made in the White Paper Planning for a Sustainable Future published in May 2007 to review and wherever possible extend permitted development rights on microgeneration to non-renewable uses including commercial and agricultural development. The White Paper also proposed consultation on detailed proposals.
	The Killian Pretty Review: Planning applications: A faster and more responsive system published in November 2008 recommended that the Government should consult on the scope for extending permitted development further allowing opportunities for small-scale renewable facilities on non-domestic buildings and land.
	The answer given by my hon. Friend, the Member for Tooting, (Mr. Khan) given on 23 February 2009,  Official Report, column 118W stated that we aim to consult on proposals this summer.

Roads: Canvey Island

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make an assessment of the effects on  (a) socio-economic development,  (b) regeneration and  (c) traffic flow of the Roscommon Way Extension, Canvey Island Phase I; and what assessment she has made of progress on Phase II.

Margaret Beckett: A planning application for Roscommon Way Extension with a full environmental impact assessment has been submitted to Essex county council. It would not be appropriate for CLG to review at this time. CLG has thus made no assessment on the progress on Phase II.

Written Questions: Government Responses

John Maples: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to reply to Question 257080, on the proposed Middle Quinton eco-town, tabled on 10 February 2009.

Margaret Beckett: I replied to the hon. Member's Question on 2 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1227W.

Zero Carbon Delivery Unit

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding has been allocated to the zero-carbon hub since its inception.

Iain Wright: Budget 2008 announced that the Government would provide pump-priming funding for a new delivery unit to guide, monitor and coordinate the zero-carbon homes programme. The Zero Carbon Hub, a company limited by guarantee, was launched in June 2008 to take on this role and is now fully functioning. In 2008-09, the Department has agreed to allocate up to £500,000 to the Zero Carbon Hub on a match funding basis and subject to a satisfactory business plan.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Africa: Overseas Aid

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of state for International Development what recent steps the Government has taken to support humanitarian relief in Africa.

Ivan Lewis: The UK Government provided £205 million in Africa for humanitarian relief in the financial year 2007-08. Further details on the Department for International Development's (DFID) humanitarian strategy in Africa can be obtained from the Department for International Development publication "DFID Humanitarian Allocations in Africa 2007/2008" which is available in the publications section of the DFID website:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/2007-8-Africa-humanitarian-spend-analysis.pdf

Asia: Development Aid

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps the Government has taken to support developing countries in Asia in the last 12 months.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) provided around £930 million in bilateral aid to Asia during 2007-08. Between 2008-11, UK bilateral aid will grow by over 13 per cent. This assistance is targeted at the public service agreement (PSA) countries in Asia—Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Vietnam, and to a lesser extent the Non PSA countries, Burma, China, Indonesia. We also make a contribution through humanitarian assistance and the cross-government conflict prevention pool in Sri Lanka.
	Examples include the following:
	In India, home to a third of the world poor, DFID is providing £410 million for education between 2003-10. This has helped to reduce the number of out of school children from 25 million to less than 10 million.
	In Nepal £20 million is allocated to the Safe Motherhood Programme during 2004-09 contributing to an almost halving of maternal mortality rates in the country.
	In Vietnam DFID support to the national poverty reduction programme has helped half a million people escape poverty, increased school enrolment rates to 90 per cent., helped open 4,000 new primary schools and given 600,000 more people access to clean drinking water.
	Further information on DFID's strategy in Asia is available on the DFID website and also in the annual report which is available in the Library of the House and online:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/

Civil Society Challenge Fund

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the  (a) longest and  (b) mean length of time was for decisions to be made on applications to the Civil Society Challenge Fund in each of the last three funding rounds.

Michael Foster: The deadline for submission of full proposals to the Civil Society Challenge Fund (CSCF) is 31 July every year. In order to allow rigorous appraisal of the high numbers of proposals received, guidelines published for the 2006, 2007 and 2008 rounds indicated that applicants would be notified of decisions in the following March (up to 246 days after submission).
	In the last three funding rounds, decisions were announced on the following dates:
	
		
			  Round  Date decision was announced 
			 2008 7 April 2008 
			 2007 20 April 2007 
			 2006 3 March 2006 
		
	
	The longest time for decisions to be announced was therefore 266 days in 2007. The mean time for decisions to be announced was 246 days.

Departmental Art Work

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which works of art from the Government Art Collection each Minister in his Department has selected for display in a private office.

Michael Foster: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development has the following works of art from the Government art collection on display in his private office: 'Zoom' by Richard Smith; 'Composition of Figures' by Robert Medley; 'Night Dreams' by John Reginald Brunsdon; and 'Untitled' by John Hoyland.
	No other Ministers at the Department for International Development (DFID) have artwork from the Government Art Collection on display in their private offices.

Departmental Consultants

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the  (a) salary and  (b) other costs of employment were for the Communications Officer provided for his Department to support the Sudan Darfur—Darfur Dialogue and Consultation by Coffey International Development Ltd in 2008.

Ivan Lewis: The post of communications officer to support the Darfur Darfur dialogue and consultation (DDDC) is provided through a Framework Agreement between the Department for International Development (DFID) and Coffey International (Coffey) and was awarded following competition. As the communications officer is an employee of Coffey, rather than DFID, DFID does not hold details of the officer's salary or other employee remunerations. DFID pays Coffey a fee rate of £795 per day, as set out in the Framework Agreement.

Departmental Disclosure of Information

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  how often he plans to aggregate data from his Department's country office template reports to provide an overall analysis of expenditure on HIV and related issues;
	(2)  whether data from his Department's country office template reports will be made publicly available.

Ivan Lewis: In December 2008, the UK Government released a document on monitoring performance and evaluating impact which sets out how progress against the commitments in "Achieving Universal Access" will be assessed and reported. The Government will publish biennial reports over the seven-year lifetime of the strategy which will ensure transparency and accountability for its implementation. This document can be found on the Department for International Development (DFID) website,
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/news/files/12919_Evaluating_Aids_6th.pdf.
	The biennial reports will present and analyse data from a series of templates, primarily focusing on our efforts at country level, but also on our wider efforts and in the context of global progress.

Departmental Film

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development on what dates and on which channels the Nile Basin Documentary Film produced by Wild Dog Ltd with funding from his Department has been broadcast.

Ivan Lewis: The Nile Basin documentary film has not been broadcast to an external audience to date. It was produced for use by the Nile Basin Initiative (a programme of water resource cooperation led by the Nile Basin countries) and for the Nile Basin Discourse (a parallel civil society engagement programme). The film is to be used as part of their broader communications strategy and will be linked with other communication materials.
	The Department for International Development (DFID) is contributing funding to both organisations and has encouraged them to strengthen understanding and support for improved management of the Nile's water resources through the media. We are regularly in contact and will continue to support them as they develop their communications.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much has been claimed in reimbursable expenses by special advisers in his Department in 2008-09 to date.

Michael Foster: The total amount claimed in expenses by special advisers in the Department for International Development (DFID) for financial year 2008-09 to date is £237.20.
	DFID's procedures for reimbursing staff expenses are set out in the staff handbook and are in line with the provisions set out in the Civil Service Management Code. The code can be viewed at:
	www.civilservice.gov.uk/iam/codes/csmc/index.asp

Departmental Public Consultations

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many public consultations his Department has conducted in the last 12 months; how long each consultation was open for; how many responses were received in each case; and what the cost of conducting each consultation was.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has run 22 public consultations on its website during the last 12 months. The consultations were open for at least 12 weeks, as set out in the government guidance on public consultations. Information on responses and expenditure on public consultations is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Rail Travel

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on  (a) standard and  (b) business class rail travel in each of the last three financial years.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development's (DFID) expenditure on rail travel for the last three financial years is given in the following table.
	
		
			   Total rail expenditure (£) 
			 2005-06 421,720 
			 2006-07 441,823 
			 2007-08 450,570 
		
	
	Data broken down by class of travel could not be produced without incurring disproportionate cost.
	The totals in this table include data on reimbursable rail expenditure claimed by staff which was not previously available.

Departmental Surveys

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will place in the Library a copy of the Stakeholder survey—working across Whitehall, produced by PricewaterhouseCoopers for his Department in 2008, reference number 200708205.

Michael Foster: A copy of the Department for International Development's (DFID) Stakeholder Survey, carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2008, will be placed in the Library.

Departmental Surveys

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on staff surveys in each of the last five years; and which companies were contracted to carry out the surveys.

Michael Foster: Since 2004-05, the Department for International Development (DFID) has carried out six staff surveys. Details are shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Survey  Provider  Cost (£) 
			 2004-05 Better Balance Audit Robertson Cooper Ltd. 25,850 
			 2005-06 Management Survey Internally delivered n/a 
			 2006-07 Management Survey Internally delivered n/a 
			 2007-08 Management Survey Internally delivered n/a 
			 2008-09 Better Balance Audit Robertson Cooper Ltd. 27,000 
			 2008-09 Pulse Survey (under way) Oxford Policy Management (1)7,000 
			 (1) Budget.

Developing Countries: Climate Change

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much  (a) the World Bank,  (b) multilateral development banks and  (c) other international finance organisations have spent on (i) alternative sources of energy, (ii) energy efficiency and (iii) adaptation to climate change in developing countries in each of the last two years; what proportion of this spending was from funds provided by the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: An internationally agreed definition of what constitutes spending on (iii) adaptation to climate change does not currently exist, and the international financial institutions do not have publicly available estimates of their own spending in this area for the last two years. The Department for International Development (DFID) is working with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Development Assistance Committee (DAC) to develop a methodology for collecting statistics from donors on support to adaptation.
	DFID does, however, hold the following information on expenditure on (i) alternative sources of energy, and (ii) energy efficiency:
	The World Bank Group recently reported $476 million of lending to renewable energy projects, and $1,192 billion to energy efficiency for the year ending 30 June 2008. Disaggregated data are not available for the previous year. Together, this represents 35 per cent. of total World Bank Group energy sector lending for 2008.
	The Asian Development Bank's (ADB) investments in alternative sources of energy for the last two years are $121 million in 2007 and $1,152 billion in 2008. ADB's investments in energy efficiency for the last two years are $547 million in 2007 and $547 million in 2008.
	The Inter-American Development Bank's (IADB) lending and investments in low carbon programmes, including alternative energy and energy efficiency, totalled $960 million in 2008.
	For the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), data from 2007 (the only year for which we have accurate data) shows that of total energy sector lending of €1.020 billion, 67 per cent. went to 'clean energy' activities, mainly energy efficiency.
	It is not possible to state what percentage of spend by the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) on clean energy projects is as a result of UK funding. MDB projects are funded through a variety of sources, including funds leveraged through their capital resources and lending and funding through concessional windows like the International Development Association (IDA), to which donors contribute directly.

HIV Infection

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the terms of reference for the cross-departmental working group on HIV/AIDS led by his Department are.

Ivan Lewis: The Cross-Whitehall Working Group on tackling AIDS in the developing world is the main mechanism for cross-departmental work on AIDS. The current terms of reference are as follows;
	To support implementation of "Taking Action: "The UK's strategy for tackling HIV and AIDS in the developing world" by HMG by increasing coherence across Government Departments.
	To exchange information about policy initiatives and directions related to "Taking Action The UK's strategy for tackling HIV and AIDS in the developing world."
	To identify opportunities for closer co-operation across departments to maintain UK and International political momentum, provide briefing, and consider new policy directions.
	To link with existing Whitehall co-ordination mechanisms including the Access to Medicines Working Group.
	These terms of reference are currently being revised to make explicit the Group's role in monitoring the commitments set out in the UK Government's updated AIDS strategy "Achieving Universal Access" launched in June 2008. It is expected that the revised terms of reference will be agreed at the next meeting of the Cross-Whitehall Working Group on tackling AIDS in the developing world.

HIV Infection

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps the Government has taken to prevent the spread of AIDS-related illnesses in third world countries in the last 12 months.

Ivan Lewis: In June 2008 the UK Government launched "Achieving Universal Access" the UK's strategy for halting and reversing the spread of HIV in the developing world. This reaffirms the UK's global leadership on AIDS, including through a commitment to spend £6 billion over seven years to 2015 to strengthen health systems and services. This is in addition to the UK Government's long-term commitments of £1 billion (2007-15) to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
	Preventing people from becoming infected with HIV is our best hope of stopping the epidemic and related illnesses. "Achieving Universal Access" sets out how the UK will intensify prevention efforts that have proven to be effective, such as prevention of mother-to-child transmission, family planning and reducing the harm from injecting drug use. The strategy recognises that an effective response to AIDS also requires action outside the health sector. The UK government is therefore committed to a multisectoral response to AIDS that includes action in education, social protection and justice.
	"Achieving Universal Access the UK's strategy for halting and reversing the spread of HIV in the developing world" was published on 2 June 2008 and is available on the Department for International Development (DFID) website
	www.dfid.gov.uk
	and in the Library of the House.

Kosovo

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will place in the Library a copy of the Policy note on economic growth and job creation for donor conference, Kosovo commissioned from the University of Manchester in 2008, reference numbers 200808402 and 200808318.

Michael Foster: The Policy Note produced by the university of Manchester will be placed in the Library.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how his Department's aid for reconstruction in Gaza is to be distributed.

Michael Foster: At the Sharm el Sheikh conference, the international donor community agreed that aid to Gaza should be delivered in line with core humanitarian principles and through existing international and regional mechanisms. There are established mechanisms for aid delivery in Gaza, such as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and the European Commission's PEGASE. The UK will continue to use these and also continue to fund non-governmental organisations with staff on the ground to meet immediate humanitarian needs and rebuild critical infrastructure such as homes, schools and hospitals.
	On 1 March, the Secretary of State for International Development pledged £30 million for recovery in Gaza. The pledge includes a new £20 million provision and £10 million from the support announced in January. This brings the UK response to the recent conflict in Gaza to £46.8 million. Of this we have already allocated nearly £16 million.

Sri Lanka: Armed Conflict

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what reports his Department has received on the number of bombings of civilian hospitals in the Vanni region in Sri Lanka; what assessment his Department has made of the humanitarian impact of these attacks; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has received public reports from the United Nations (UN) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Because of the restrictions on access, it is not possible to provide accurate details of the number of bombings. We deplore the reported attacks on hospitals and the other incidents of civilian casualties in Sri Lanka. We have repeatedly called on both the Sri Lankan Government and the separatists to end hostilities, allow full humanitarian access and respect humanitarian law; which prohibits attacks on medical facilities. We applaud and support the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in evacuating some 2,000 wounded civilians but condemn the necessity for doing so.
	We have committed £5 million in humanitarian aid to support the relief and protection work of the ICRC, United Nations and other agencies.

Sri Lanka: Politics and Government

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of conditions for civilians in government welfare villages in Sri Lanka; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has been unable to make our own first-hand assessment because although we have sent humanitarian staff to Sri Lanka for this purpose, the Sri Lankan Government have refused permission for them to travel to the conflict area.
	According to secondary sources, the Sri Lankan Government have not provided welfare villages for displaced civilians but transit camps, using buildings such as schools and community centres. Reports indicate that these sites are overcrowded, have a large government military presence and impose very restricted movement. However, it is also reported that their management is now improving, with water, sanitation, food and other necessities being provided.
	With other Governments and the United Nations, we have repeatedly pressed the Sri Lankan Government and the separatists to allow unrestricted humanitarian access, to reach an urgent ceasefire and ensure full protection and relief for the civilian population. We have committed £5 million in humanitarian aid to support the protection and relief work of the International Red Cross, the United Nations and other agencies.

St. Helena: Airports

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when the pause on the construction of an airport on the island of St. Helena commenced; when it will finish; what its purpose is; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: We announced on 8 December 2008,  Official Report, columns WS46-47 that there will be a pause in negotiations over the St. Helena airport contract. We are reviewing whether it is right to proceed with this project in the present difficult economic climate. We will announce the outcome of our considerations as soon as we are able to.

St. Helena: Airports

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what effect the exchange rate between the euro and sterling has had on the pause currently in force on the construction contract of an airport for the island of St. Helena.

Michael Foster: The St. Helena airport tender called for bids in up to four international currencies. The 30 per cent. drop in the value of the UK pound against the euro since the bids were submitted in November 2007 has served to increase the likely out-turn cost of the project.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Civil Servants

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many  (a) applicants and  (b) posts to available for such applicants there were to join the Civil Service fast stream in each year since 1996-97.

Tom Watson: Application and recruitment figures for the Fast Stream as a whole, which consists of the Graduate Fast Stream, the Economist Fast Stream, the Statistician Fast Stream and, since 2007, the Technology in Business Fast Stream, are as follows:
	
		
			   Applications  Vacancies 
			 1996 11,842 310 
			 1997 10,144 277 
			 1998 9,037 235 
			 1999 9,814 306 
			 2000 14,409 426 
			 2001 11,777 421 
			 2002 14,328 411 
			 2003 20,032 510 
			 2004 8,598 467 
			 2005 12,957 504 
			 2006 13,945 476 
			 2007 13,619 380

Civil Servants: Pensions

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he plans to increase the retirement pension age for the Civil Service pension schemes in line with the planned changes to the state retirement age.

Tom Watson: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made by my hon. Friend the then Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Gillian Merron) on 26 July 2007,  Official Report, column 105WS, which gave details of the package of Civil Service pension reform. There are no plans to increase the retirement pension age at present. If costs go up at future actuarial valuations, action will be taken to limit the contributions paid by Civil Service employers. This could include increasing the pension age.

Civil Service: Disclosure of Information

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the Public Disclosure Act 1998 on  (a) the Civil Service and  (b) public authorities.

Patrick McFadden: I have been asked to reply.
	I keep the operation of the Public Interest Disclosure Act under review but have undertaken no specific assessment of its impact on the Civil Service and public authorities.

Departmental Absenteeism

Greg Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many staff of his Department were recorded absent for non-medical reasons on  (a) 2 February 2009 and  (b) 3 February 2009; what estimate he has made of the (i) cost to his Department and (ii) number of working hours lost due to such absence; and what guidance his Department issued to staff in respect of absence on these days.

Tom Watson: Guidance was issued to staff that they should follow Cabinet Office policy on dealing with transport domestic emergencies.
	Short periods of special leave with pay are authorised and recorded by managers and not held centrally. To obtain this information in relation to 2 and 3 February 2009 would represent a disproportionate cost.

Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings

Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many staff in  (a) the Prime Minister's Office and  (b) the Leader of the House's Office were disciplined for (i) bullying and (ii) harassment of colleagues in each of the last three years.

Tom Watson: It is not the policy of the Cabinet Office to release personal data relating to individual staff. I can confirm that in the period specified, there were fewer than five cases in the Department where staff were disciplined for bullying and harassment of colleagues. It would not be appropriate to provide a further breakdown.

Futurebuilders Fund

Nick Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 
	(1)  what funding the Cabinet Office has allocated for Futurebuilders in  (a) 2008-09,  (b) 2009-10 and  (c) 2010-11;
	(2)  what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the Recession Action Plan for the Third Sector on the funding of Futurebuilders.

Kevin Brennan: The Futurebuilders Fund draws down funding from the Cabinet Office when commitments made by the Fund are ready to be disbursed to third sector organisations. The budget allocations made by the Cabinet Office are indicative only, and for transparency, the annual actual and audited expenditure is recorded separately in the Cabinet office Annual Report and Accounts.
	The budget allocations for Futurebuilders for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 are in the following table:
	
		
			  Budget including management charge 
			   £ million 
			 2008-09 30.26 
			 2009-10 59.96 
			 2010-11 51.38

Futurebuilders Fund

Nick Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether there have been any changes to the Futurebuilders operational budget since the publication of the Government's Recession Action Plan for the Third Sector.

Kevin Brennan: The operational budget for the Futurebuilders Fund is set out in the contract between the Cabinet Office and Adventure Capital Fund Management, which was signed on 4 February 2008. The Fund Manager is paid a fixed fee for managing the Futurebuilders fund with a small, additional sum to cover contingency and a performance-related bonus. Since the agreement was signed, this has not changed.

Futurebuilders Fund

Nick Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether there have been any changes to the contractual operating terms under which Futurebuilders operate in the last 12 months.

Kevin Brennan: The contractual operating terms for the Futurebuilders Fund were set out in the contract between the Cabinet Office and Adventure Capital Fund Management, which was signed on 4 February 2008. This contract came into effect on 1 April 2008. Since the original agreement, the contractual operating terms have not changed.

Futurebuilders Fund

Nick Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what changes have been made to the allocation of funding to Futurebuilders since the start of the current comprehensive spending review.

Kevin Brennan: The Futurebuilders Fund draws down funding from the Cabinet Office when commitments made by the fund are ready to be disbursed to third sector organisations. Due to the time it can take for third sector organisations to become fully investment ready following an in principle commitment from the Futurebuilders Fund, it is often difficult to accurately predict expenditure of the Fund in any given financial year. Budget allocations to the Fund are therefore updated on a regular basis.
	For our current indicative budget allocations to the Fund I refer the hon. Member to the answer I have given to parliamentary question number 260488.

Government Departments: Data Protection

Tim Boswell: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which Government departments have fully implemented the recommendations of the review of data handling procedures in Government; and what recent steps he has taken to set cross-Government standards on the management of information.

Tom Watson: Departments have already reported on information risk management and implementation of the Data Handling Report (DHR) requirements in their annual resource accounts and will continue to do so on an annual basis. The DHR stated that a report on information risk and assurance will be placed before Parliament following annual reporting from departments on the 2008-09 financial year. This report will also cover departments' implementation of the recommendations of the DHR and information risk in general. Indications so far are that departments are making good progress, and are focused on completing the implementation of the DHR requirements.
	Recent steps taken by my Department include: the rolling-out of a civil service wide e-learning package for all staff on data security with around 100 different public sector organisations accessing the training to date; the delivery of updated guidance on information risk assessments and reporting procedures; further and ongoing training and development sessions for Senior Information Risk Owners across departments.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon Emissions

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how the funds for protection of the forest environment announced at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Poznan will be allocated; and from which budget the funds will be allocated.

Joan Ruddock: The contribution comes from the UK's £800 million Environmental Transformation Fund—International Window. The funding will provide support to countries seeking to initiate change towards low carbon emission and climate resilient sustainable forest management. It will help to demonstrate and implement the measures required for a country to reduce overall emissions from forestry and potentially access payments from a future Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) funding mechanism.

Carbon Emissions

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans he has to commission further research into the use of international financial mechanisms to reduce levels of forest loss.

Joan Ruddock: It is clear that Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) cannot be financed by public funds and carbon markets alone. There is a strong case for early action and a public-private partnership to mobilise additional funding for REDD.
	The Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for International Development have commissioned a study to examine the options for financing mechanisms that use public funding to mobilise substantial private investment into sustainable forest management, leading to reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation with environmental and developmental co-benefits. We hope to be able to consult on the outcomes of this in April this year.

Carbon Emissions: EC Action

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the efficacy of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme in the light of the recession.

Mike O'Brien: In the EU carbon market we are currently witnessing lower carbon allowance prices due to a variety of factors including reduced manufacturing output and lower electricity demand. The fall in the price of carbon allowances has also followed the fall in other commodity prices. Allowing carbon allowance prices to reflect these changing market fundamentals is necessary for achieving fixed emissions reductions at least cost as it incentivises participants to change their behaviour accordingly.
	The level of environmental ambition of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is set by the cap and will not be affected by the price of carbon allowances.

Carbon Emissions: Research

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what research his Department has  (a) evaluated and  (b) commissioned on the volume of carbon dioxide emitted from processes involving the use of indigenous deep-mined coal compared to similar processes involving the use of tar sands, shale and other unconventional oils.

Mike O'Brien: The Government agrees with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its Fourth Assessment Report which shows that the emissions associated with extraction and conversion of these unconventional sources of energy are several times those associated with conventional sources of oil per unit of energy produced. The Government have not made an assessment of the volumes of carbon dioxide produced by processes involving unconventional sources of oil compared with indigenous coal.

Climate Change: Indonesia

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what funding he has allocated to the work of the UK-Indonesia Working Group on Environment and Climate Change (WGECC); when and where the group will next meet; and which UK organisations will participate in the WGECC.

Joan Ruddock: A joint MoU (DECC/DEFRA with the Indonesian Environment Ministry) establishing the WGECC was signed in Poznan in December 2008. The first meeting of the WGECC is due to take place in April in London. There will be UK representatives from DECC, DEFRA, DFID, FCO, DFT, and UKTI.
	Funds have not yet been allocated to the work of the WGECC as a work programme is yet to be agreed. April's meeting will consider the shape of the work programme and help to identify funding requirements.

Departmental Correspondence

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his Department's average response time to a letter received from  (a) an hon. Member and  (b) a member of the public has been since it was established.

Mike O'Brien: The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of departments in replying to Members' correspondence. The report for 2007 was published on 20 March 2008,  Official Report, columns 71-74WS. Information for 2008 is currently being collated and will be published as soon as it ready. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House.
	With respect to correspondence from members of the public, this information cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate costs. The Department does however aim to respond to all written correspondence within 15 working days.
	Statistics on the handling of letters from members of the public are published in the DEFRA annual report which will be available later in the year.

Departmental Data Protection

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will make it his policy for his Department to sign the Information Commissioner's Personal Information Promise.

Mike O'Brien: The Government welcomed the Promise as a commendable initiative to raise awareness of the importance of effective data protection safeguards, particularly for those organisations with no similar commitments already in place.
	The Government take data protection very seriously. Following the Cabinet Office Review of Data Handling Procedures in Government, Departments have implemented a raft of measures to improve data security.
	The Ministry of Justice is considering actively with the ICO how the Promise might add additional value to those measures we have already signed up to. These include the Information Charters, the recommendations of the Data Handling Review and the Thomas/Walport Review and, of course, our legal obligations under the Data Protection Act and other legislation and regulations.

Departmental Responsibilities

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when his Department will publish its corporate plan.

Mike O'Brien: No decision has yet been made about this.

Electricity

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many homes were without electricity supply for a period of more than four hours during January 2009.

Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State does not collect detailed data on supply interruptions which would enable numbers of electricity customers interrupted for more than four hours to be calculated on a monthly basis. Existing statutory reporting requirements relate only to major interruptions and not to all interruptions.
	Distribution Network Operators will, however, report interruptions data for the 2008-09 regulatory year to Ofgem on 30 April 2009.

Energy: Meters

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will place in the Library of the House a copy of the minutes of each meeting held by officials in his Department at which smart meters have been discussed since the creation of his Department.

Mike O'Brien: Officials have met a wide range of individuals and organisations to discuss smart metering issues, including energy supply companies, network operating companies, trade union representatives, metering businesses, environmental and consumer organisations and others with an interest in smart meter roll-out.
	I do not intend to place records of the meetings in the Libraries of the House. There would be disproportionate costs involved, for instance in the clearance of such records with the relevant individuals and organisations.

Energy: Meters

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what  (a) organisations and  (b) individuals, officials in his Department have met to discuss smart meters since his Department's inception.

Mike O'Brien: Officials have met numerous organisations and individuals to discuss smart metering issues, including energy supply companies, network operating companies, trade union representatives, metering businesses, environmental and consumer organisations and others with an interest in smart meter roll-out.

Energy: Supply

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the effect of the economic downturn on UK energy demand.

Mike O'Brien: National Grid estimates that current electricity demands are approximately 2 gigawatt's lower than they would expect under similar weather conditions but with last winter's usage patterns. It expects that over the summer the demand reduction will continue, and are forecasting electricity demand about 1.3 gigawatt's lower than last summer's.
	National Grid believes gas demand from industrial, commercial and domestic customers has seen a significant downturn since the start of winter, when compared with the same period last year assuming normal weather conditions. However, growth in power generation and exports to mainland Europe have resulted in the same overall level of demand as last winter.
	The Department estimates that in the three months to December 2008 petrol demand fell by 6 per cent. and diesel demand by 5 per cent. when compared with the previous year.
	It is not known how much of the change in energy demand is due solely to the economic downturn.

Environmental Transformation Fund

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the revenue source of the Environmental Transformation Fund is.

Joan Ruddock: holding answer 12 February 2009
	 As announced in the 2007 Budget the Environmental Transformation Fund is funded equally from the Department for International Development and my Department's budgets. Prior to DECC's creation, funding was supplied by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Decisions on how much to allocate to departmental budgets are made at spending reviews.

Housing: Carbon Emissions

Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department has awarded under Phase 2 of the Low Carbon Buildings programme in each quarter since it was established.

Mike O'Brien: Under the Low Carbon Buildings programme Phase 2 the following amount of money was committed in each quarter since the programme was established:
	
		
			  Quarterly commitment for LCBP2 
			  £ 
			   Committed rate (takes account of withdrawn projects)  Grant committed (cumulative) 
			 November-December 2006 — — 
			 January-March 2007 119,290 119,290 
			 April-June 2007 1,644,850 1,764,140 
			 July-September 2007 2,253,115 4,017,255 
			 October-December 2007 2,250,882 6,268,137 
			 January-March 2008 2,768,237 9,036,374 
			 April-June 2008 3,299,059 12,335,433 
			 July-September 2008 4,819,009 17,154,442 
			 October-December 2008 5,857,419 23,011,862 
			 January 2009 3,429,338 26,441,200

Housing: Carbon Emissions

Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department has awarded to microgeneration of heat and electricity projects under Phase 2 of the Low Carbon Buildings programme, broken down by specific technologies supported.

Mike O'Brien: To date under Phase 2 of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme the total of £26,441,200 was allocated to 1,324 projects broken down by technologies as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			  Heat  
			 Solar thermal 2,789,912 
			 Ground source heat pumps 2,591,002 
			 Biomass 390,139 
			 Total 5,771,053 
			   
			  Electricity  
			 Photovoltaic 19,547,780 
			 Wind turbines 1,122,367 
			 Total 20,670,147

Industrial Diseases: Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many addresses his Department has provided to the Legal Complaints Service in order to advise claimants under the Coal Health Compensation Scheme about their ability to complain about double charging by solicitors; and how many such addresses his Department holds.

Mike O'Brien: The Department provided 3,651 living claimant addresses from the Rother Valley constituency to the Legal Complaints Service (LCS) in July 2007, following which each individual claimant was written to and invited to attend an information session headed by my right hon. Friend the Member for Rother Valley (Mr. Barron).
	Since then, the LCS has amended its approach to taking this work forward and has reached agreement with some solicitors, representing a large proportion of all claimants under the Coal Health Compensation Schemes, for them to write directly to their clients explaining how they can seek redress. The Department may need to provide further data in future to enable the LCS to contact claimants whose solicitors do not agree to follow the LCS' preferred approach and arrangements for this are under discussion.
	The Department holds the addresses of 588,739 claimants under the schemes and any requests for the disclosure of such personal data are considered in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the requirement for enhanced data security given the personal data involved.

Microgeneration

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what research his Department has commissioned into the effectiveness of  (a) ground and  (b) air source heat pumps.

Mike O'Brien: The Energy Saving Trust is currently undertaking the first-of-its kind field trial of heat pumps in the UK with support from DECC and other stakeholders. The trial is measuring the in-situ performance of 80 ground and air-source heat pumps installed in domestic properties. The field trial was launched in 2008 after extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders in government, industry, and academia. The project will collect data for one calendar year from all sites. The trials are due to report in January 2010 and we look forward to the results.

Natural Gas

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department is taking to increase the capacity of storage facilities for gas.

Mike O'Brien: The Government are working to facilitate new gas storage projects by implementing the reforms to the consents procedures under the Energy and Planning Acts 2008. National Grid's recent "10 Year Statement" identifies 17 commercial gas storage projects in various stages of development. A further major project has also recently been announced. If all these projects go ahead GB's gas storage capacity could increase to some 20 per cent. of current annual demand levels by around 2020.

Natural Gas

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of domestic gas consumption was obtained from domestic sources in each of the last 15 years; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: Because the UK's gas consumption needs are met by domestic production, imports (net of exports) and changes in gas stocks it is not possible to identify the exact proportion of domestic production physically consumed in the UK. Given the complexities a simplified measure is shown in the following table. This shows the UK's dependence on imported gas over 15 years to 2008. A negative net import figure means the UK was a net exporter of gas. The final column shows that between the years 1996 and 2003 (inclusive) the UK was self-sufficient in gas.
	
		
			   Gas available for consumption in the UK (TWh)  UK net imports (TWh)  UK net imports as a percentage of gas available for consumption in the UK  Implied UK consumption as a percentage of UK production 
			 1994 727 +23 3 97 
			 1995 779 +8 1 99 
			 1996 924 +5 0 100 
			 1997 929 -8 -1 100 
			 1998 955 -21 -2 100 
			 1999 1,011 -72 -7 100 
			 2000 1,064 -120 -11 100 
			 2001 1,045 -108 -10 100 
			 2002 1,035 -90 -9 100 
			 2003 1,031 -91 -9 100 
			 2004 1,064 +19 2 98 
			 2005 1,030 +77 7 93 
			 2006 984 +123 13 87 
			 2007 989 +215 22 78 
			 2008 (provisional) 1,032 +284 28 72

Natural Gas: Russia

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effects of Russia's decision to stop European gas supply on such supplies in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: Russia's decision to stem European gas supply had no direct impact on gas supply in the UK as the UK is estimated to receive less than 2 per cent. of its gas from Russia. However, the shortage of gas supplies to the continent was likely to have been the reason for the exports of gas from the UK to Europe through the Interconnector of, on average, 35 million cubic metres per day, in response to price signals. This was at a time of year when the UK would normally be importing through the Interconnector. The UK's diverse sources of gas supplies helped to ensure that gas supply in the UK continued to meet demand, which was high due to cold weather conditions prevailing at the time.

Natural Gas: Russia

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he plans to review the viability of the Nord Stream pipeline project.

Mike O'Brien: No.

Natural Gas: Ukraine

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what percentage of gas consumed in the UK is sourced from the Ukraine.

Mike O'Brien: UK consumption of any gas sourced via the Ukraine (be it Russian or Ukrainian in origin) is negligible. Ukraine consumes its own domestic gas production with minute exports, but does act as a transit country for Russian gas entering the EU. There are only two routes to the UK for gas via the Ukraine. These are the Balgzand-Bacton pipeline from the Netherlands and the Bacton-Zeebrugge pipeline with Belgium. The physical origins of the gas through these pipelines are not available. It is possible that a very small amount of gas via the Ukraine finds its way across continental Europe to the UK, but given the gas pipeline infrastructure it is believed that most of the gas from the Netherlands is sourced from the Dutch sector of the North sea, and that most of the gas from Belgium is sourced from Norway via Zeepipe (which terminates at Zeebrugge).
	Monthly imports and exports of natural gas by country are published in Energy Trends Table 4.3 on the DECC/BERR website at the following address:
	http://stats.berr.gov.uk/energvstats/et4_3.xls

Nuclear Power Stations

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  whether he proposes to provide further opportunities for the nomination of potential nuclear new build sites after the current period closes on 31 March 2009;
	(2)  what consideration he gave to providing for a period of evaluation of other than two months for the nomination of potential nuclear new build sites; and for what reasons two months was the preferred period.

Mike O'Brien: The strategic siting assessment is a process for identifying and assessing sites which are strategically suitable for the deployment of new nuclear power stations by the end of 2025. The Government believes that it is important to focus on sites which can come on stream in good time to contribute to our goals on climate change and energy security. 2025 provides sufficient focus to facilitate the achievement of these goals whilst avoiding an unnecessarily long list of potential sites which may not come on stream for some years. Should the need arise the Government will issue a second call for nominations for credible sites which might be deployed after 2025.
	The Government Response to Consultation on the SSA process and siting criteria, published in January this year set out the next steps, including nomination forms, guidance to nominators and the timetable of assessment. The deadline for nominations is 31 March 2009. The nominations will be published on the DECC website and there will be a month long period for public comment prior, and in addition, to public consultation later in the year.
	In the consultation on the SSA process and siting criteria Government set out the proposal that the nomination window would be eight weeks. Having considered the responses to the consultation, the Government believes that an eight week window for nominations gives nominators sufficient time to absorb the changes to the criteria resulting from the consultation, to complete nominations and to perform their engagement activities. The Government did consider leaving time between the publication of the criteria in the Response and subsequently calling for nominations, but felt that this would introduce complexity into the nomination period. The Government's conclusions in relation to the nomination window are set out more fully in the Government Response to the SSA Consultation.

Nuclear Power Stations

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many nuclear power stations he expects to begin being constructed in each of the next five years.

Mike O'Brien: It will be for energy companies to determine how much capacity is built and when.
	There should be no cap on the amount of new nuclear build that industry can propose. We are taking active steps to facilitate rapid early deployment of new nuclear build in the UK.
	Interest in building new nuclear power stations in the UK is strong. This is demonstrated by events such as EDF's recent purchase of BE, and by the development of Joint ventures by RWE and E.ON, and Iberdrola, GDF Suez and SSE to participate in the development of new nuclear power stations.

Renewable Energy: International Co-operation

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Morley and Rothwell of 16 June 2008,  Official Report, columns 641-2W, on renewable energy: international co-operation, what recent assessment he has made of the merits of the establishment of an international renewable energy agency in the light of other existing organisations and initiatives in the field of renewable energy.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 10 February 2009
	We have fully supported the proposal for an International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). During 2008, we were engaged in the process for establishing IRENA and more recently we participated in the founding conference on 26 January and the first session of the Preparatory Commission of IRENA on 27 January 2009.
	We continue to be keen on joining IRENA and have been in close contact with the German Government on the details of the new organisation. For example, we have been talking to Germany about how IRENA can contribute to the roll-out and deployment of renewables and how we can help to get other countries such as Canada, China, Japan, India and the US to join. We also want to make sure that IRENA works closely with, and avoids overlap and duplication with, other international bodies and organisations, such as the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the renewable energy and energy efficiency partnership (REEEP). The IEA has a good understanding of the potential for renewable energy and its technology roadmaps published in its Energy Technologies Perspectives 2008 set out what needs to be done. The policy and analytical expertise of the IEA needs to be used by IRENA to accelerate deployment of renewable sources of energy.

United Nations Environment Programme

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent meetings Ministers and officials from his Department have had with representatives of the United Nations Environment Programme on energy and climate change related matters.

Joan Ruddock: DECC Ministers have not had any recent meetings with representatives from the United Nations Environment Programme. However, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, attended a climate change meeting on 18 February 2009 as part of the United Nations Environment Programme Conference in Nairobi.

Windfall Tax: Energy

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on levying a windfall tax on the profits of energy companies; what representations he has received from  (a) trades unions and  (b) consumer groups on an energy windfall tax; what the reasons were for deciding against such a tax; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the transcript of his comments to Radio Five Live on 23 September on energy windfall taxes.

Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has regular discussions with the Chancellor on various economic issues relating to the energy markets, and receives representations on issues relating to the energy markets from a broad range of organisations. All taxes are kept under review by the Chancellor as part of the Budget and pre-Budget report process. Any decision to levy a tax on the profits of energy companies would need to consider the impact on UK competitiveness and the long term investment required to move to a low-carbon economy.
	My officials have tried on a number of occasions to obtain from the BBC the transcript the hon. Gentleman requested without success so far.

INNOVATION, UNIVERSITIES AND SKILLS

Vocational Training

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many learner places funded by the Learning and Skills Council have been taken up by people with  (a) learning difficulties,  (b) disabilities and  (c) mental ill health in each year since 2003-04.

Si�n Simon: Table 1 shows the number of learner enrolments/starts which were funded by the Learning and Skills Council, from 2004/05 to 2007/08 academic year.
	Information is shown by: learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities; disability (including mental ill health) and learning difficulty. Data cannot be provided on a comparable basis for 2003/04.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of learner enrolments/starts funded by the Learning and Skills Council, learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities; disability, including mental health; and learning difficult 
			  Dimension  Category  ACL enrolments  FE college enrolments  Ufl enrolments  WBL starts  TtG starts 
			  2004/05   
			 Learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities Yes 113,300 934,900 95,300 38,500 (1) 
			  No 917,100 6,197,200 834,500 206,900 (1) 
			  Not Known 271,500 879,900 80,700 4,400 (1) 
			  Total 1,301,900 8,012,000 1,010,500 249,800 (1) 
			 Disability Yes (1) 488,400 64,900 17,600 (1) 
			   Of which have: Mental Ill Health (1) 40,700 6,600 400 (1) 
			  No (1) 6,490,600 862,300 226,800 (1) 
			  Not Known (1) 1,033,000 83,300 5,400 (1) 
			  Total (1) 8,012,000 1,010,500 249,800 (1) 
			 Learning difficulty Yes (1) 519,100 41,000 27,400 (1) 
			  No (1) 6,468,900 885,100 217,300 (1) 
			  Not Known (1) 1,023,900 84,400 5,100 (1) 
			  Total (1) 8,012,000 1,010,500 249,800 (1) 
			
			  2005/06   
			 Learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities Yes 119,600 938,600 95,600 34,400 1,400 
			  No 861,700 5,683,000 768,300 190,300 30,400 
			  Not Known 201,200 649,100 73,200 3,500 700 
			  Total 1,182,600 7,270,700 937,100 228,200 32,400 
			 Disability Yes (1) 466,700 64,400 16,700 900 
			   Of which have: Mental Ill Health (1) 38,700 7,900 400 (2) 
			  No (1) 6,021,800 797,300 207,400 30,900 
			  Not Known (1) 782,200 75,300 4,100 700 
			  Total (1) 7,270,700 937,100 228,200 32,400 
			 Learning difficulty Yes (1) 533,800 42,400 23,700 1,000 
			  No (1) 5,948,600 817,700 200,500 30,800 
			  Not Known (1) 788,400 77,000 4,000 700 
			  Total (1) 7,270,700 937,100 228,200 32,400 
			
			  2006/07   
			 Learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities Yes 116,600 879,100 64,300 35,500 14,000 
			  No 831,600 4,698,500 537,200 197,500 182,100 
			  Not Known 162,100 468,200 24,400 2,800 10,200 
			  Total 1,110,200 6,045,800 625,900 235,900 206,300 
			 Disability Yes (1) 420,600 42,700 18,500 7,200 
			   Of which have: Mental Ill Health (1) 33,100 6,200 400 200 
			  No (1) 5,043,700 558,000 213,800 188,500 
			  Not Known (1) 581,500 25,200 3,500 10,600 
			  Total (1) 6,045,800 625,900 235,900 206,300 
			 Learning difficulty Yes (1) 512,600 28,100 23,300 7,700 
			  No (1) 4,941,300 571,600 209,200 188,000 
			  Not Known (1) 591,900 26,200 3,400 10,700 
			  Total (1) 6,045,800 625,900 235,900 206,300 
			
			  2007/08   
			 Learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities Yes 119,600 866,200 89,400 42,200 21,000 
			  No 776,000 4,444,100 632,000 235,400 298,500 
			  Not Known 142,600 409,900 9,800 2,900 12,300 
			  Total 1,038,200 5,720,200 731,200 280,600 331,800 
			 Disability Yes (1) 429,900 57,700 23,200 9,400 
			   Of which have: Mental Ill Health (1) 34,000 9,100 700 300 
			  No (1) 4,775,900 660,700 253,600 309,500 
			  Not Known (1) 514,500 12,800 3,800 12,800 
			  Total (1) 5,720,200 731,200 280,600 331,800 
			 Learning difficulty Yes (1) 506,100 38,100 25,700 10,500 
			  No (1) 4,687,400 681,000 251,300 308,300 
			  Not Known (1) 526,700 12,100 3,500 13,000 
			  Total (1) 5,720,200 731,200 280,600 331,800 
			 (1) Data is not available. (2) A value of less than 50.  Notes: 1. Volumes are rounded to the nearest hundred, and therefore may not sum to totals. 2. Disability and learning difficulty is not shown separately for ACL as they are not mandatory ILR fields for this return. 3. Data for ACL, FE colleges and Ufl are based on learner enrolments. One learner may enrol on more than one course, e.g. two A-levels, and will be counted for each learning aim they are recorded on. 4. Data for WBL and TtG are based on learner starts, by year in which the programme of learning was started. Learners starting more than one course will appear more than once. 5. Data for WBL includes apprenticeships (all levels) and entry to employment. 6. Based on learner's self-assessment. It is recognised that many learners for whom information is recorded in this field will not be able to identify themselves as having learning difficulties. This information will be recorded as a result of interview. 7. Train to Gain was launched in April 2006, so comparable data does not exist for 2004/05.  Source: Individualised Learner Record.

Written Questions: Government Responses

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what proportion of hon. Members' questions to his Department for written answer on a named day in the 2008-09 Session of Parliament to date have received  (a) a holding response on the day named,  (b) a substantive response on the day named,  (c) a substantive response after the day named and  (d) no response.

Si�n Simon: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Quantity  Percentage 
			 Total named day PQs 74  
			 Holding reply on named date 29 39 
			 Substantive response on or before named day 38 51 
			 No response on or before named day 7 10

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Academies

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families for what purpose he has commissioned an analysis of academy schools from PricewaterhouseCoopers; what skills and capabilities provided by PricewaterhouseCoopers for this purpose are not available in his Department; and how much his Department has paid to PricewaterhouseCoopers for this project.

Jim Knight: In 2002, as the first cohort of academies opened, the Department decided that it was important to have an independent evaluation of the programme, given the high-profile and innovative nature of the scheme.
	The Department tendered for an external organisation to carry out a five year evaluation and PricewaterhouseCoopers were selected on the strength of their proposals. They were able to provide a team of professional educationalists with experience in academic educational research, who were available to work on the evaluation for five years, bringing continuity of personnel. The value of the contract was 1,559,940 and their fifth and final report in the contract was published last November

Academies: Special Educational Needs

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which 10 academies had the highest  (a) number and  (b) proportion of pupils with statements of special educational needs in the last school year for which records are available.

Jim Knight: The requested information is set out in the following table. In addition, provisional data from the School Census 2008 shows that the proportion of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) statements for all maintained schools is 2.8 per cent. Provisional School Census 2008 data also shows that the proportion of pupils with SEN (with and without statements) in academies is 32.7 per cent. compared to a national average of 20.0 per cent.
	
		
			  Top  10  academies by number of pupils with special needs with statements in 2008 
			Number  Percentage 
			 1 The King's Academy 90 8.12 
			 2 Thomas Deacon Academy 66 3.14 
			 3 The Business Academy Bexley 50 3.22 
			 4 City of London Academy (Southwark) 47 4.85 
			 5 St. Pauls Academy 45 6.17 
			 6 The Academy at Peckham 45 3.83 
			 7 Bradford Academy 43 4.75 
			 8 London Academy 42 3.12 
			 9 Northampton Academy 42 3.26 
			 10 Mossbourne Community Academy 41 5.14 
			  Source: School Census File 2008 
		
	
	
		
			  Top  10  academies by percentage of pupils with special needs with statements in 2008 
			Number  Percentage 
			 1 The King's Academy 90 8.12 
			 2 St. Pauls Academy 45 6.17 
			 3 Oasis Academy Wintringham 38 5.56 
			 4 Mossbourne Community Academy 41 5.14 
			 5 City of London Academy (Southwark) 47 4.85 
			 6 Bradford Academy 43 4.75 
			 7 John Madejski Academy 30 4.57 
			 8 Madeley Academy Trust Ltd 32 4.52 
			 9 Oasis Academy Enfield 8 4.47 
			 10 New Line Learning Academy 39 4.42 
			  Source: School Census File 2008

Children: Day Care

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent assessment he has made of the reasons for changes to the cost of childcare.

Beverley Hughes: As part of the duty to secure sufficient child care local authorities have a responsibility to assess costs and affordability issues alongside demand and supply in order to ensure that the child care market is meeting the needs of local families.

Children: Day Care

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which childcare settings he expects to be exempt from being on an Ofsted register.

Beverley Hughes: Child care provision for children aged 8+ is not required to register. For younger children the following categories of child care provision are exempt from registration:
	Provision in hotels where this occurs between 6 pm and 2 am for no more than two clients;
	Provision where individual children are looked after for two hours or less per day;
	Childminding in the parents' own home (for example, nannies);
	Childminding provided only between 6 pm and 2 am;
	Activity-based provision designed to offer not more than two activities (and where children aged three to five spend less than four hours a day);
	Provision where individual children are cared for for four hours or less and where parents remain on the premises or within their immediate locality;
	All provision where this is being made as part of a home education arrangement for children of compulsory school age;
	Open Access Schemes (for example supervised adventure playgrounds);
	All provision made on particular premises for 14 days or fewer in any year and where Ofsted are notified in writing at least 14 days before the first day of operation;
	Provision made in maintained, approved non-maintained or independent schools for a child who is a registered pupil at the school but has not yet attained the age of three when admitted but will do so before the expiry of his or her first term at the school.

Children in Care

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many English children in care were placed in children's homes in  (a) Wales,  (b) Scotland and  (c) Northern Ireland in each year since 1997.

Beverley Hughes: There were 59,500 looked after children in England at 31 March 2008, of which 6,300 were placed in children's homes. In total 540 of the children looked after by English local authorities at 31 March 2008 were in placements outside England and 90 of these were in children's homes, this includes those in placements in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. These figures exclude those children looked after under an agreed series of short term placements.
	It is not possible to provide figures for earlier years or to give figures for Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland separately due to data availability.

Children in Care: Boarding Schools

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the answer of 25 November 2008,  Official Report, column 1418W, on children in care: boarding schools, when he expects the school census team to provide the information which is to be placed in the Library.

Beverley Hughes: The information has now been placed in the Libraries.

Children: Databases

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much Capgemini has been paid for its work on ContactPoint in each year since the inception of the project.

Beverley Hughes: The Department paid Capgemini 3.9 million in 2006-07, 19.7 million in 2007-08 and 9.9 million in the first 10 months of financial year 2008-09, for work on the ContactPoint Project.

Children's Centres

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when he expects the programme for the provision of Sure Start children's centres to be complete.

Beverley Hughes: The Government's aim is to have at least 3,500 Sure Start Children's Centres up operational during 2010. Local authorities are responsible for planning the delivery of Sure Start Children's Centres and they are currently finalising their local plans to achieve this target.

Children's Play

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether play workers running open-access schemes are required by his Department to register on the Ofsted  (a) early years and  (b) childcare register.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 2 March 2009
	There is no requirement for open access provisionas defined by the Childcare (Exemptions from Registration) Regulationsto be registered on either the  (a) Early Years Register or  (b) the General Childcare Register.

Departmental Data Protection

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will make it his policy for his Department to sign the Information Commissioner's Personal Information Promise.

Jim Knight: The Government welcome the Promise as a commendable initiative to raise awareness of the importance of effective data protection safeguards, particularly for those organisations with no similar commitments already in place.
	The Government take data protection very seriously. Following the Cabinet Office review of data handling procedures in Government, departments have implemented a raft of measures to improve data security.
	The Ministry of Justice is considering actively with the ICO how the Promise might add additional value to those measures we have already signed up to. These include the Information Charters, the recommendations of the Data Handling Review and the Thomas/Walport Review and, of course, our legal obligations under the Data Protection Act and other legislation and regulations.

Departmental Operating Costs

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the running cost of his Department and predecessor departments was in each of the last 10 years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The following table shows the annual running costs of the Department and predecessor Departments for the last 10 years.
	
		
			  Table 1: Annual running costs for DCSF 
			   million 
			   Post MOG  Pre MOG 
			  Outturn   
			 1998-99  211 
			 1999-2000  220 
			 2000-01  230 
			 2001-02  228 
			 2002-03 183 214 
			 2003-04 193 221 
			 2004-05 209 258 
			 2005-06 193 240 
			 2006-07 196 244 
			
			  Estimated outturn   
			 2007-08 194 238 
			  Notes: 1. On 28 June 2007 a Machinery of Government change (MOG) was announced which meant a restructuring of Government responsibilities. DfES was split into DCSF and DIUS. 2. Post MOG figures were only restated from 2002-03 and match COINS. These figures are taken from the Departmental Report 2008 (CM 7391). 3. Pre MOG figures have been taken from Departmental report 2007 (CM 7092).

Ear to Listen

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what response he has made to the recommendation of the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council that his Department give the findings of the Ear to Listen education advocacy project run by Save the Children UK serious consideration.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department has studied the Ear to Listen report, and feels there is merit in a number of the recommendations.
	The Department will be undertaking a consultation on giving pupils under 18 a right of appeal following their permanent exclusion from school, and as part of this will consult on a child's right of appeal in other related policy areas, including admissions and special education needs (SEN). The consultation will consider the type of support that pupils, particularly those with communication difficulties, might need in taking forward their right of appeal. In addition, following a recent consultation on handling parents' and young people's complaints about individual school issues, we will consider the place of mediation as part of the complaints handling process and how it could be used to best effect.
	On the recommendation related to providing children with a suitable education, since September 2007 schools have been required to arrange a suitable full-time education for all pupils excluded from the sixth day of any period of fixed period exclusion of six days or longer. Local authorities are likewise required to arrange suitable full-time education from the sixth day of permanent exclusion. The term suitable education is not defined by law but should be suitable in relation to the individual pupil's needs and take account of any special educational needs. Parents should be notified of their child's continuing educational entitlement in the letter that notifies them of the exclusion and either that letter or a subsequent letter should provide them with detail about the provision, its address and start times.
	On the recommendation related to further investigating the reasons behind exclusions of children with SEN, as committed in the Children's Plan, we are already working to identify good practice in this area, and are about to begin a fact-finding study to determine further the factors which lead to high numbers of exclusions of children with SEN.

Education Maintenance Allowance: Wiltshire

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many students aged 16 to 18 years in receipt of an education maintenance allowance there are at each educational institution in North Wiltshire constituency.

Jim Knight: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) who operate the education maintenance allowance (EMA) for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). Mark Haysom the LSC's chief executive, will write to the hon. Member for North Wiltshire with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries.

Empty Property

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the estimated cost in empty property business rates for the vacant properties recorded on the e-PIMS database owned by his Department is in 2008-09.

Jim Knight: The cost of empty property business rates to the Department for Children Schools and Families for 2008-09 was 50,038.

GCSE

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils did not obtain five GCSEs at any grade excluding equivalents in 2008.

Jim Knight: The number of pupils that did not obtain five GCSEs at grades A*-G (excluding all equivalents) in 2008 was 88,430.

GCSE

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of pupils eligible to receive free school meals attained a GCSE in  (a) German,  (b) French and  (c) Spanish at grade A* in 2008.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The table shows the number and percentage of pupils achieving grade A* in French, German and Spanish by eligibility of free school meals in 2008 as a proportion of pupils at the end of KS4.
	
		
			   Non-FSM  FSM  Total 
			   Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage 
			 French 9,360 1.8 282 0.4 9,663 1.6 
			 German 4,092 0.8 114 0.2 4,217 0.7 
			 Spanish 4,494 0.9 195 0.3 4,703 0.8 
		
	
	The number and percentage of pupils achieving grade A* as a proportion of the total number of entries
	
		
			   Non-FSM  FSM  Total 
			   Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage 
			 French 9,360 6.8 282 2.8 9,663 6.5 
			 German 4,092 6.8 114 3.6 4,217 6.6 
			 Spanish 4,494 10.7 195 5.8 4,703 10.3 
			  Source:  National Pupil Database 
		
	
	Please note that the data are provisional and subject to change. The data also relates to pupils at the end of KS4 in maintained schools only.

GCSE

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 14 January 2009,  Official Report, column 845W, on general certificate of secondary education, how many and what percentage of pupils in the maintained mainstream sector achieved a GCSE in  (a) physics,  (b) chemistry and  (c) biology at grade (i) A* and (ii) A in 2008, broken down by index of multiple deprivation decile.

Jim Knight: The information is provided in the following table.
	
		
			  Results of pupils at the end of key stage 4 in maintained mainstream schools achieving a GCSE in Physics, Chemistry or Biology at grade A* or A by IDACI deprivation decile( 1)  of known pupil residence in England, 2007/08( 2) 
			  IDACI decile1  (a) Physics  (b) Chemistry  (c) Biology 
			   (i) Grade A*  (ii) Grade A  (i) Grade A*  (ii) Grade A  (i) Grade A*  (ii) Grade A 
			   No.( 3)  %( 4)  No.( 3)  %( 4)  No.( 3)  %( 4)  No.( 3)  %( 4)  No.( 3)  %( 4)  No.( 3)  %( 4) 
			 0-10% most deprived 241 10.4 520 22.4 273 11.6 590 25.1 216 7.5 595 20.7 
			 10-20% 286 10.6 628 23.4 341 12.4 644 23.3 291 8.7 700 21.0 
			 20-30% 428 13.0 868 26.4 457 13.8 903 26.8 412 10.5 1,004 25.6 
			 30-40% 543 13.5 1,072 26.7 558 13.7 1,087 27.3 518 11.1 1,159 24.8 
			 40-50% 678 14.6 1,312 28.2 756 16.1 1,282 29.3 675 12.9 1,437 27.4 
			 50-60% 988 18.1 1,618 29.6 1,019 18.5 1,616 30.8 930 15.4 1,839 30.5 
			 60-70% 1,220 19.9 1,873 30.6 1,240 20.2 1,873 30.4 1,150 17.1 2,107 31.4 
			 70-80% 1,389 19.9 2,165 31.0 1,396 19.9 2,160 30.8 1,253 16.7 2,452 32.6 
			 80-90% 1,727 22.1 2,444 31.3 1,762 22.4 2,482 31.5 1,679 20.2 2,738 33.0 
			 90-100% least deprived 2,378 25.8 3,019 32.7 2,375 25.7 3,084 33.3 2,201 22.8 3,429 35.5 
			 (1) 2007 Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index at Super Output Area level based on the residence of the pupil. (2) Provisional. Includes attempts and achievements by these pupils in previous academic years. (3) Number of pupils entered for the subject who achieved the grade. (4) Percentage of all entries for the subject.  Source:  National Pupil Database

GCSE: Disadvantaged

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals did not gain one or more C grades or above at GCSE in 2008.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: holding answer 26 January 2009
	In 2008, 29,886 (40.0 per cent.) of pupils eligible for free school meals in maintained schools did not achieve one or more grades A*-C at GCSE.

National Curriculum Tests

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department has spent on the Key Stage 2 single level tests in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) develops and delivers the single level test (SLT) strand of the Making Good Progress pilot. QCA advises that the total amount spent on SLTs for both key stage 2 and key stage 3 in the period 1 February 2008 to 31 January 2009 was 6,986,404. This includes spending on development work associated with the June 2009 test round. It is not possible to extract the specific costs associated with key stage 2.

Nurseries: Vacancies

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 3 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 1067-8W, on nurseries: vacancies, if he will estimate the number of full-time vacancies there were in local authority maintained nurseries in 2008.

Beverley Hughes: The Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey collects information on the number of childcare places in maintained nursery schools in England. Information regarding the number of full-time vacancies in maintained nurseries in 2008 is not yet available. The Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey 2008 will be published later this year.

Ofsted: Finance

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding his Department has provided to Ofsted in each year since 1997; and how much of this has been spent on  (a) inspections and  (b) inspections of early years settings in each year.

Jim Knight: Ofsted is a non-ministerial Government Department and its funding is provided by the Treasury through a separate estimates process. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has therefore written to the hon. Member on this matter and a copy of her reply has been placed in the Libraries.
	 Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 10 February 2008:
	Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for a response.
	Ofsted is a non-ministerial government department and its funding is provided by HM Treasury. Table A shows the total funding provided to Ofsted in each year since 1997, as well as Ofsted's total expenditure and expenditure related to inspection and regulation activity, including that on early years settings.
	Ofsted accounts refer to inspection costs under the category of total costs of inspection and regulation activity. The financial data in this response are derived from Ofsted's audited accounts using this wider definition, reflecting as consistently as possible the cost of inspection and regulation. The total programme cost of inspection and regulation activity includes only direct costs incurred by Ofsted in delivering inspection and regulation activity.
	Please note that Ofsted has undergone considerable change since the financial year 1997-98. From 1997-98 to 2000-01, Ofsted was primarily responsible for the inspection of schools, local education authorities and teacher training. As stated above, from 2001-02, Ofsted's remit expanded to include early years inspection and regulation. Since April 2007, Ofsted has also had responsibility for the inspection and regulation of care for children and young people, and the inspection of education and training for learners of all ages. Over the same period, improvements in the way we deliver inspection and regulation have enabled Ofsted to make substantial savings. These changes have affected the cost of early years regulation and inspection and year on year comparison of these costs. Further explanatory notes accompany the table below.
	A copy of this reply has been sent to Rt Hon Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools and Learners, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.
	
		
			  Table A: 0fsted's total funding and expenditure in each year since 1997 
			   million 
			  Financial year  Total funding  Total gross expenditure  Total programme cost of inspection and regulation activity  Total programme cost of Early Years Inspection and regulation activity 
			 1997-98 151.3 151.0 118.2 0 
			 1998-99 133.4 112.1 79.8 0 
			 1999-2000 96.5 87.2 53.6 0 
			 2000-01 103.9 104.4 90.5 0 
			 2001-02 155.6 155.0 130.5 40.8 
			 2002-03 200.2 200.2 170.5 68.2 
			 2003-04 211.6 211.1 181.3 68.4 
			 2004-05 217.5 215.3 190.8 (1)82.3 
			 2005-06 225.3 223.0 199.2 79.0 
			 2006-07 208.4 185.7 157.7 (2)52.2 
			 2007-08 236.3 228.1 206.6 (3)53.5 
			  Notes  1. In the financial year 2005-06, Ofsted used an improved method for calculating total costs of inspection and regulation. The 2004-05 figures above are the recalculated figures based on this new method. 2. Between the financial years 2004-05 and 2006-07 Ofsted established a new regional structure, rationalising the support for inspections within three regional offices. These changes led to substantial reduction in the cost of inspection and regulation activity. 3. Since April 2007, Ofsted has had responsibility for the inspection and regulation of care for children and young people, and the inspection of education and training for learners of all ages. Consequently, total funding and gross costs increased sharply.

Parents: Advisory Services

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what legal requirements local authorities have to inform parents about choice in childcare and schools.

Jim Knight: Local authorities have a duty to ensure fair access to educational opportunity and to provide information to the public on childcare and related services.
	Local authorities are required to consult on their school admission arrangements in accordance with the school admissions statutory framework once every three years, unless changes in the criteria are proposed. Each year, they publish information in a prospectus about each of the maintained schools, including academies, in their relevant area to ensure parents have access to information when applying for a school place.
	The Childcare Act 2006 extended local authorities' existing duty to provide information to the public on childcare and related services.

Primary Education

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether he plans to change the age at which children start their reception year.

Beverley Hughes: The remit for the Independent Review of the Primary Curriculum, asks Sir Jim Rose to consider whether it be appropriate to allow more choice and flexibility in start dates for children entering school who are summer born.
	Sir Jim Rose's interim report has recommended that entry into reception class in the September immediately following a child's fourth birthday should become the norm and the Review is exploring how this might be achieved without unduly restricting parental choice. The final report and recommendations will be published this spring. Ministers will consider the recommendations of the Review in due course and have not yet made any decisions.

Pupils: Food

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children of  (a) primary and  (b) secondary school age in each local authority area have been referred for food intolerance testing in the last 12 months.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: This information is not collected by the Department.

Schools: Closures

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many secondary schools in  (a) rural and  (b) urban areas closed in each of the last 10 years.

Jim Knight: The following table sets out the numbers of maintained secondary schools in  (a) rural and  (b) urban areas that have closed in each year since 2000. We do not have reliable information about decisions made prior to 2000.
	
		
			   2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  Total 
			 Rural1 1 2 
			 Urban 3 6 11 11 22 12 6 8 7 86 
			 Figures include middle deemed secondary schools 
		
	
	The table shows closures where the schools ceased to be maintained and were not replaced. There are other circumstances involving school closure which have been excluded from the table because replacement provision was established, for example in the case of a change to a school's religious character or an amalgamation of an infant and junior school to form a primary school.

Schools: Closures

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many rural schools have closed in each year since 1996.

Jim Knight: The following table sets out the numbers of maintained rural schools that have closed in each year since 2000. We do not have reliable information about decisions made prior to 2000.
	
		
			   Primary  Secondary( 1) 
			 2000 2  
			 2001 1  
			 2002 5  
			 2003 6 1 
			 2004 11  
			 2005 10  
			 2006 10  
			 2007 14  
			 2008 14 1 
			 Total 73 2 
			 (1) Including middle deemed secondary. 
		
	
	The table shows closures where the schools ceased to be maintained and were not replaced. There are other circumstances involving school closure which have been excluded from the table because replacement provision was established, for example in the case of a change to a school's religious character or an amalgamation of an infant and junior school to form a primary school.

Schools: Construction

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when he expects building work under the primary strategy for change programme to commence; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The 23 pathfinder authorities have already started work on their exemplar projects. We expect most to be completed by the end of this year. The programme is being rolled out nationally from April 2009. Early indications are encouraging. My statement of 12 November 2008,  Official Report, column 56WS, confirmed that 133 strategies for change have already been either fully approved or approved with modification, enabling the Department to confirm 2009-10 funding for around 90 per cent. of eligible authorities. Local authorities collectively have reported that they are planning to start projects at more than 1,500 schools over the three year period 2008-11.

Schools: Finance

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which local authorities will receive school capital funding brought forward under arrangements announced in the pre-budget report; and how much each will receive.

Jim Knight: Applications are in the final stages of consideration. I intend to make an announcement shortly regarding the school capital funding which will be brought forward from 2010-11 to 2009-10.

Schools: Inspections

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether Ofsted inspected all maintained schools and pupil referral units for progress towards his Department's Public Service Agreement 11, in the latest period for which data is available.

Jim Knight: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply has been placed in the Libraries.

Schools: Standards

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what methodology is used by his Department for the calculation of contextual value added scores.

Jim Knight: A detailed explanation of the statistical model and the calculations used to produce the Contextual Value Added measures can be found in the 'Technical Guide to Contextual Value Added 2007/2008 Model publication at:
	www.dcsf.gov.uk/performancetables/schools_08/documents.shtml
	I have also placed a copy in the Libraries.

Social Services: Parents

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Parenting Early Intervention pathfinders in meeting their objectives; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: The Department for Children, Schools and Families has funded the Parenting Early Intervention Programme (PEIP) since 2006. Findings from an independent evaluation of the 18 PEIP pilots carried out by Warwick university found that the programme attracted a large number of parents in need of support to manage their children's behavioural difficulties. The evaluation found that the pathfinder was successful in rolling out three evidence-based parenting programmes across 18 local authorities with high levels of positive gains for parents and their children.
	The final PEIP evaluation report was published in July 2008 and can be found on the DCSF website at:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/RRP/u014941/index.shtml
	We do not believe there is any need for the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families to make a statement on this matter.

Special Educational Needs

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2009 to question 256859, what other ways of obtaining information on looked after children are being explored; and when he expects this process to have been completed.

Beverley Hughes: The Department is working on a project to match looked after children data from the SSDA 903 collection with the National Pupil Database. If successful this would enable us to produce analysis for looked after children on a range of attainment indicators and characteristics, including information on special educational needs.
	We are hoping to report on the findings including on the robustness of the matching exercise by the end of 2009.

Specialised Diplomas

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils of each age are studying for each diploma subject.

Jim Knight: The information held centrally about the number of pupils studying each Diploma subject is broken down into two categories of pre and post-16, as follows:
	
		
			   Pre-16  Post-16  Total 
			 Construction and the Built Environment 1,372 330 1,702 
			 Creative and Media 2,527 1,169 3,696 
			 Engineering 2,293 538 2,831 
			 Society, Health and Development 1,087 744 1,831 
			 Information Technology 1,289 723 2,012

Teachers: Equality

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many responses there were to the recent consultation on the General Teaching Council draft code on diversity rules; and how many of them expressed concern about principle 4, bullet point 3.

Jim Knight: The General Teaching Council for England's (GTCE) public consultation on its draft Code of Conduct and Practice for registered teachers ran from 28 November 2008 to 27 February 2009. At the close of the consultation, 3,683 responses had been received by the GTCE to their online questionnaire and they are currently being analysed. A breakdown of subject areas that drew a response will be published by the GTCE after 16 March. In addition to the online questionnaire, the GTC received 563 letters from individual respondents specifically on Principle 4, Clause 3; each respondent has received a reply from the GTCE dealing with any concerns they may have raised about this aspect of the draft Code of Conduct and Practice.

Teachers: Male

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 1969-70W on teachers: male, what the equivalent figures were in each local authority area in each of the last 10 years.

Jim Knight: The table, which is to be placed in the House Library, shows the number of local authority maintained primary and secondary schools in England that employed fewer than 10 per cent. 2 per cent. and 3 per cent. qualified full-time equivalent male teachers in each local authority in England, January 1997 to 2008.

Teachers: Offenders

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2009,  Official Report, column 1710W, on teachers: offenders, whether his Department has information on where the requested information is held.

Jim Knight: Information on any convictions or police warnings that teachers have received may be held by their employers, local authorities or individual schools as appropriate.
	The Department for Children Schools and Families does not hold information relating to convictions or any police cautions received by teachers as it does not employ them directly.

Truancy

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what percentage of  (a) male and  (b) female (i) free school meal and (ii) non-free school meal pupils have been classed as persistent absentees in each of the last three years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Information enabling analysis of pupil enrolments classed as persistent absentees was collected for the first time for the school year 2005/06. The requested information for 2005/06 and 2006/07 is shown in the following tables:
	
		
			  Primary, secondary and special schools( 1, 2, 3) , persistent absentees, gender and free school meal eligibility( 4) , 2005/06 and 2006/07, England 
			   Persistent absentees 
			   2006/07 
			   Boys  Girls 
			   Eligible for free school meals  Other pupils( 5)  Eligible for free school meals  Other pupils( 5) 
			   Number  of enrolments  Percentage  of enrolments( 6)  Number  of enrolments  Percentage  of enrolments( 6)  Number  of enrolments  Percentage  of enrolments( 6)  Number  of enrolments  Percentage  of enrolments( 6) 
			 Primary schools(1) 13,960 4.77 18,240 1.24 12,600 4.46 16,170 1.15 
			 State funded secondary schools(1, 2) 32,370 14.82 67,010 5.05 33,040 15.39 70,750 5.51 
			 Special schools(3) 2,880 16.20 3,790 10.32 920 13.27 1,230 7.80 
			 Total 49,210 9.31 89,040 3.14 46,560 9.23 88,150 3.25 
		
	
	
		
			   2005/06( 7) 
			   Boys  Girls 
			   Eligible for free school meals  Other pupils( 5)  Eligible for free school meals  Other pupils( 5) 
			   Number  of enrolments  Percentage  of enrolments( 6)  Number  of enrolments  Percentage  of enrolments( 6)  Number  of enrolments  Percentage  of enrolments( 6)  Number  of enrolments  Percentage  of enrolments( 6) 
			 Primary schools(1) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 State funded secondary schools(1, 2) 35,480 15.85 71,610 5.40 35,650 16.21 74,650 5.81 
			 Special schools(3) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Total (8) (8) (8) (8) (8) (8) (8) (8) 
			 (1 )Includes middle schools as deemed. (2 )Includes CTCs and academies. (3 )Includes both maintained and non-maintained special schools. (4 )Persistent absentees are defined as being absent for 20 per cent. of all sessions of attendance, this relates to being absent for more than 63 half days. (5 )Includes pupil enrolments for whom free school meal eligibility was missing. (6 )The number of persistent absentees expressed as a percentage of pupil enrolments with the same gender and free school meal eligibility. (7) Information for 2005/06 is not available for primary or special schools. (8 )Not applicable.  Note: Numbers have been rounded to the neatest 10.  Source:  School Census

Young People: Leisure

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate his Department has made of the percentage of young people who live more than one hours' travel time by public transport from at least one of a bowling alley, an ice rink, a theatre, a cinema or a recording studio.

Beverley Hughes: The Government do not collect these data. Local authorities have a duty to secure access to positive activities for young people. Statutory guidance produced in relation to this duty sets out how local authorities and their partners should consider whether transport is a barrier to young people's access to positive activities, taking into account local circumstances. We also made a commitment in Aiming High for Young People: a 10-year strategy for positive activities (DCSF July 2007) to produce guidance for children's trusts and transport planners to encourage joined up planning and commissioning of local transport for young people. This guidance will be published in the spring and showcases a range of innovative transport solutions to accessing positive activities developed by local authorities and their partners.

Youth Services: Finance

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many myplace projects have been initiated by  (a) local authorities and  (b) young people.

Beverley Hughes: To date, myplace funding of 240 million has been awarded to 62 projects. Thirty-three of those projects are local authority led.
	Myplace aims to deliver world class youth facilities driven by the active participation of young people and their views and needs. All myplace projects have demonstrated clear evidence that young people, particularly disadvantaged young people, have been and will be fully involved in the development, design and future running of the project.

Youth Services: Finance

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many proposals for myplace projects have been rejected by local authorities.

Beverley Hughes: All myplace applications need to be endorsed by the relevant top tier local authority to demonstrate that the project responds to local needs and priorities. Of the 240 myplace applications received to date, 12 have been rejected due to the application not having local authority endorsement.

BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM

Broadband

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what his most recent estimate is of the extent of broadband internet access.

Patrick McFadden: Ofcom Research indicates that over 99 per cent. of households are connected to a broadband enabled exchange. Satellite broadband is geographically available to 100 per cent. of the UK.
	Broadband coverage of 512 kbps is available to over 98 per cent. 1 Mbps to over 97 per cent. and 2 Mbps to 93 per cent. Access to 50 Mbps service would be available to over 45 per cent. of households by the end of 2009.
	Ofcom's Communication Market Report 2008 stated that the proportion of homes taking broadband services grew to 58 per cent. by Q1 2008, a rise of six percentage points on a year earlier.

Broadband: Pensioners

John Battle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of levels of broadband access for pensioners; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: Over 99 per cent. of households are connected to a broadband enabled telephone exchange. Ofcom stated in 2008 that 46 per cent. of those over 65 had broadband access at home. This contrasts with 57 per cent. of adults in the same period.
	The Government recognise digital inclusion as being a very important challenge facing the UK. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and my noble Friend the Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting, have formed a dedicated Cabinet CommitteeMISC 34 and established a cross-government co-ordination unit. The Government have engaged a wide range of stakeholders in developing the cross-government report Delivering Digital Inclusion - An Action plan for Consultation in order to have a coherent and concerted drive to address digital inclusion and increase access to broadband/digital technologies for pensioner households and people with disabilities. The action plan details over 70 Government actions taking place to advance digital inclusion. The action plan and details are available at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/deliveringdigitalinclusion
	and
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/digitalinclusionannex

Broadband: Rural Areas

James Gray: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what recent assessment he has made of the likely economic effect on rural small businesses of not having access to broadband in the next two years.

Patrick McFadden: This Department has made no recent assessment on the likely economic effect on rural small businesses of not being able to access broadband in the next two years. However, I recognise the importance of broadband access in rural areas and will be developing plans for a universal service commitment to be effective by 2012 as part of the Digital Britain report. We will set out our plans for the level of service which we believe should be universal and anticipate that this consideration will include options up to 2Mbps.

Departmental Data Protection

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will make it his policy for his Department to sign the Information Commissioner's Personal Information Promise.

Patrick McFadden: The Government welcome the promise as a commendable initiative to raise awareness of the importance of effective data protection safeguards, particularly for those organisations with no similar commitments already in place.
	The Government take data protection very seriously. Following the Cabinet Office Review of Data Handling Procedures in Government, Departments have been required to implement a number of measures to improve data security.
	The Ministry of Justice is considering with the Information Commissioner's office how the promise might add additional value to those measures that are already in place within Government, including published departmental information charters.

Departmental Internet

Mark Harper: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will publish a copy of his Department's website accessibility plan.

Patrick McFadden: The Department's website accessibility statement is available at:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/administration/accessibility
	BERR is currently working with external accessibility specialists to develop a full accessibility plan, and this will also be published at the above address when completed.
	The Department re-launched its website in September 2008 working with accessibility specialists to ensure that the site meets level double-A of the web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG 1.0). This included testing the site with disabled users and training web publishers. When content is discovered that fails to meet the double-A standard it is fixed immediately.
	The Department will be moving to a new website content management system in March 2010. Achieving accessibility levels of at least WCAG level double-A will be a requirement of the new system and website.

Departmental Visits Abroad

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform 
	(1)  what the cost of  (a) flights,  (b) accommodation,  (c) gifts and  (d) other expenses was for the Secretary of State's visit to Russia in October 2008; and how many departmental staff accompanied him;
	(2)  what the cost was of  (a) flights,  (b) accommodation,  (c) gifts and  (d) other expenses for the Secretary of State's visit to the Gulf region in November 2008; and how many departmental staff accompanied him;
	(3)  what the cost was of  (a) flights,  (b) accommodation,  (c) gifts and  (d) other expenses for the Secretary of State's visit to India in January 2009; and how many departmental staff accompanied him.

Patrick McFadden: Since 1999, the Government have published a list of all overseas travel by Cabinet Ministers costing over 500. Information for the last financial year, 2007-08, was published on 22 July 2008 and for the first time included details in respect of all Ministers. Details for the current financial year will be published as soon as possible after the end of the financial year. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.

Employment Agencies

Andrew Smith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will consult trade unions and employers on an extension of statutory periods of notice for agency workers.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 26 February 2009
	The Government reviewed the current framework and coverage of employment rights, including the question of statutory notice periods, and the outcome was published in our policy document Success at Work; protecting vulnerable workers, supporting good employers, in March 2006. We concluded that the existing framework met the labour market's current needs and there was no need for further legislation in this area.
	We will be launching a consultation in the near future on the implementation of the EU Agency Worker's Directive, which will, consistent with the CBI-TUC agreement of June 2008, introduce equal treatment for agency workers in respect of basic working and employment conditions after 12 weeks in a given job.

Employment Agencies: EU Law

Andrew Smith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform 
	(1)  what timetable he has set for consultation on the implementation of the EU Agency Workers Directive;
	(2)  what progress he has made on the implementation of the EU Agency Workers Directive.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 26 February 2009
	Now that agreement has been reached in Europe on the EU Agency Workers Directive the Government hope to introduce the necessary legislation in the current parliamentary session. There will be a detailed consultation on how we intend to implement the directive. We hope to launch an initial policy consultation in the near future followed by a second stage consultation later in the year with the proposed draft regulations.

Environment Protection

David Kidney: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what studies his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the job creation potential of the UK's environmental industries.

Ian Pearson: This Department commissioned from Innovas Solutions Ltd. last year a study to asses the current size of growth potential of the UK Low Carbon and Environmental Goods and Services sector. We plan to publish this shortly.

Foreign Workers: North West

Bob Neill: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much funding the North West Regional Development Agency has provided to Migrant Workers Northwest for employment support for migrant workers in 2008-09 to date.

Patrick McFadden: In 2008-09 NWDA provided 96,000 of funding for Migrant Workers North West. Further details of the work of Migrant Workers North West can be obtained from:
	www.migrantworkersnorthwest.org

Insolvency

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many businesses have entered administration in  (a) Cornwall,  (b) the south west region and  (c) England in the last 12 months.

Patrick McFadden: There were 4,820 administrations (Enterprise Act 2002) in England and Wales in 2008. Statistics covering business administrations are not currently available on a regional basis within England and Wales.

Insolvency: Hampshire

Mark Oaten: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many businesses have entered administration in  (a) Winchester constituency and  (b) Hampshire in the last 12 months.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 3 March 2009
	 There were 4,820 administrations (Enterprise Act 2002) in England and Wales in 2008. Statistics covering business administrations are not currently available on a regional basis within England and Wales.

Motor Vehicles: Sales

David Amess: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the number of car sales during each month since January 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), new car registrations in the UK since January 2008 were as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 January 2008 162,097 
			 February 2008 69,610 
			 March 2008 451,642 
			 April 2008 175,668 
			 May 2008 179,272 
			 June 2008 209,190 
			 July 2008 153,420 
			 August 2008 63,225 
			 September 2008 330,295 
			 October 2008 128,352 
			 November 2008 100,333 
			 December 2008 108,691 
			 January 2009 112,087

One NorthEast: Finance

Jim Cousins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the estimated monetary value is of the assets transferred to the North East Property Partnership by One North East (ONE); and what income from the Partnership has been received by ONE in each year since 2004-05.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 3 March 2009
	Assets valued at 122 million at 31 March 2004 were transferred on 1 April 2004 to the North East Property Partnership in exchange for loan notes valued at 148 million.
	The income received from the partnership in each financial year from 2004-05 is:
	
		
			million 
			 2004-05 14.3 
			 2005-06 26.2 
			 2006-07 14.2 
			 2007-08 17.6 
			 2008-09(1) 8.4 
			 (1)( )Forecast figure only

Postal Services

Colin Burgon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on how many occasions since his appointment the Secretary of State has met Richard Hooper to discuss his review of the UK postal services sector; and on what dates.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 27 February 2009
	My noble Friend the Secretary of State met Richard Hooper on 8 October and 21 November 2008 to discuss Hooper's analysis of the challenges facing the postal sector, and his recommendations for policies which will sustain the universal postal service.

Regional Development Agencies: Finance

Robert Wilson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what percentage of each regional development agency's budget for 2008-09 comes from developer contributions.

Patrick McFadden: Developers routinely make contributions as part of an overall funding package for projects that are supported by RDAs. They do not, however, make a direct contribution to the budget of a RDA.

Regional Development Agencies: Trade Unions

Bob Neill: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the names are of the trade union representatives appointed to each regional development agency.

Patrick McFadden: The names of the trade union representatives appointed to each regional development agency are as follows:
	
		
			  RDA  Trade union representative 
			 Advantage West Midlands Mr. Gerard Coyne 
			 East of England Development Agency Ms Karen Livingstone 
			 East Midlands Development Agency Ms Elizabeth Donnelly 
			 One Northeast Ms Gill Hale 
			 Northwest Regional Development Agency Mr. Dave McCall 
			 South East of England Development Agency Mr. Phil Wood 
			 South West Regional Development Agency Mr. Ian Ducat 
			 Yorkshire Forward Mr. Bill Adams

Royal Mail

Kate Hoey: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much his Department has spent in hiring UBS to evaluate interest from prospective bidders for a stake in Royal Mail.

Patrick McFadden: Details of the fees agreed between the Government and UBS for this work is commercially sensitive information and the Department is unable to release it.

Royal Mail: Finance

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment his Department has made of the merits of options for raising revenue for Royal Mail apart from selling a minority shareholding.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 2 March 2009
	The Government are taking forward a package of measures to maintain the universal postal service and to secure the future of Royal Mail. These include Royal Mail entering into a strategic partnership with an experienced postal or network operator. Partnership is not simply about giving Royal Mail access to capital. A partner will deliver corporate experience of major transformation of a network business at all levels of the business. This will reduce the current risks to a successful modernisation of the company and accelerate the company's response to changes in the communications market.

Royal Mail: Finance

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment his Department has made of the effects on Royal Mail's finances of establishing a universal support fund as provided for under the EU Postal Directive.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 2 March 2009
	The Government recognise that the universal service has a cost. We do not believe that a levy and fund to finance the universal service is necessary at this time. However, we intend to legislate for a power to create such a levy and fund if this is needed in the future.

Royal Mail: Finance

Stephen Byers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much of the 1.2 billion loan made by the Government to Royal Mail has been spent; when the loan was expected to be taken up; when the full amount of the loan will have been taken up; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 3 March 2009
	Royal Mail has spent or committed 600 million on modernisation so far and is expected to draw down the full 1.2 billion loan facilities Government have made available over the next two years, to assist with implementation of their existing transformation plan.

Royal Mail: Pensions

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform 
	(1)  what independent assessment Royal Mail's Pension Fund trustees have commissioned of the projected numbers of new pensioners to the fund between 2010 and 2015;
	(2)  what independent assessment Royal Mail pension trustees have commissioned of their fund's deficit projections between 2010 and 2015;
	(3)  upon what independent actuarial analysis the Chairman of the Royal Mail's Pension Fund trustees based her estimate of the 2009 fund deficit.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 27 February 2009
	 This is a matter for the Royal Mail Pension Fund trustees.

Royal Mail: Pensions

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many meetings the Chairman of Royal Mail's Pension Fund trustees has had with Ministers and officials in his Department since September 2008; and what matters relating to the Pension Fund were discussed.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 27 February 2009
	My noble Friend the Secretary of State has had three meetings with the Chair of the Royal Mail's Pension Fund Trustees during this period. The discussions at these meetings related to the upcoming triennial valuation and the challenges presented by the large deficit in the scheme.

Royal Mail: Pensions

David Drew: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform who the trustees of the Royal Mail Pension Fund are; what recent discussions he has had with those trustees on the status of the pension fund; and when he was first informed of the recent report issued by the trustees on the fund deficit.

Patrick McFadden: Royal Mail Pension Trustees Ltd. are the trustees of the Royal Mail pension plan. Its board comprises an independent chair, Jane Newell OBE, plus ten other members, five nominated by Royal Mail Group (of which two are independent), four nominated by the unions and one is selected by a pensioner ballot.
	My noble Friend the Secretary of State has had three meetings with the chair of the Royal Mail Pension Plan Trustees since September 2008. The discussions at these meeting related to the upcoming triennial valuation and the challenges presented by the large deficit in the scheme.
	My noble Friend the Secretary of State was updated by the chair of the Trustees on the current position of the fund in her letter of 19 February 2009.

Royal Mail: Pensions

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether there has been a meeting of the Royal Mail Pension Fund Trustees to discuss the Fund's deficit, since the Secretary of State's recent meeting with the Chairman of Trustees.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 2 March 2009
	This is a matter for the Royal Mail Pension Fund trustees.

Royal Mail: Pensions

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what mechanisms his Department plans to use to assess the  (a) financial strength and  (b) current and future pension funding liabilities for existing employees of overseas companies expressing interest in a minority shareholding in Royal Mail.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 2 March 2009
	Negotiations with companies interested in entering into a partnership with Royal Mail will be commercially sensitive. The Government will use the following criteria to judge potential partners' suitability:
	the price offered for a minority stake or partnership and their ability to finance the investment;
	ability to add value to Royal Mail as a whole, including by assisting in the transformation of Royal Mail's letters business and the modernisation of its network; and
	capacity to manage stakeholder issues successfully, including relations with trade unions.

Trade Unions: Political Levy

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many and what proportion of members of each trade union with a political fund have exercised their right to opt out of the political levy, according to the records held by the Certification Officer.

Patrick McFadden: The figures requested are in the following table.
	
		
			  Union  n ame  Total number of union members contributing to General Fund  Number of members contributing to the political Fund  Numbers of members who have completed an exemption notice and therefore do not contributed to the political fund  Numbers of members who have completed an exemption notice as a percentage of total number of union members contributing to the General Fund 
			 Aspect 3,854 3,636 0 0.0 
			 Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen 16,156 15,788 368 2.3 
			 Association of Revenue and Customs 2,624 2,547 77 2.9 
			 Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union 23,266 22,658 0 0.0 
			 Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union 26,210 25,465 161 0.6 
			 Communication Workers Union 236,679 195,770 29,081 12.3 
			 Community 30,291 28,053 2,712 9.0 
			 Connect; The Union for Professionals in Communications 19,316 14,415 4,901 25.4 
			 Educational Institute of Scotland 59,539 54,196 1,360 2.3 
			 Fire Brigades Union 45,410 35,487 8,667 19.1 
			 GMB 590,125 562,173 27,952 4.7 
			 Musicians Union 30,579 29,657 730 2.4 
			 National Association of Colliery Deputies and Shotfirers 317 336 108 34.1 
			 National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Woman Teachers 265,202 212,899 9 0.0 
			 National Union of Mineworkers 2,871 1,950 106 3.7 
			 Energy and General Workers Union 16 16 0 0.0 
			 National Union of Rail Maritime and Transport Workers 67,315 65,729 1,586 2.4 
			 POA 36,172 31,850 4 0.0 
			 Public and Commercial Services Union 304,829 284,216 361 0.1 
			 Prospect 91,225 78,559 262 0.3 
			 Transport Salaried Staffs Association 28,954 27,081 1,722 5.9 
			 Union of Construction Allied Trades and Technicians 123,065 91,757 16,838 13.0 
			 Union of Democratic Mineworkers 2,166 2,166 0 0.0 
			 Union of Shop Distributive and Allied Workers 356,046 337,613 18,433 5.2 
			 UNISON: The Public Service Union 1,344,000 883,562 17,065 1.3 
			 University and College Union 110,774 96,048 14,726 13.3 
			 Unite the Union 1,630,585 1,291,408 332,202 20.4 
			 Unity 6,376 5,993 265 4.2 
			 Totals 5,459,962 4,401,028 479,696 (1)8.8 
			 (1 )Average

Union Modernisation Fund

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1319W, on the union modernisation fund, what his Department's policy is on taking minutes at official meetings.

Patrick McFadden: The Department has a general requirement to keep an appropriate record of departmental business; but does not have a specific policy on taking minutes.

Union Modernisation Fund

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1319W, on the union modernisation fund, what the  (a) remit and  (b) function of the Supervisory Board is.

Patrick McFadden: The functions and remit of the UMF supervisory board, established following a public consultation, are:
	The board advises Ministers on the projects which they consider should be supported by the fund in each bid round in the light of their assessment against the selection criteria. The final authority for approving bids rests with Ministers;
	At the request of Ministers, the board will advise Ministers on matters relating to the performance or operation of the fund, including its future development; and
	The board will be advised and supported by BERR officials. Subject to this, the board is responsible for determining its own procedures, including protocol in cases of possible conflicts of interest.

Union Modernisation Fund

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1319W, on the union modernisation fund, on what dates the Supervisory Board has met in the last 24 months.

Patrick McFadden: The UMF supervisory board has met twice over the last 24 months on
	2-3 July 2007;
	7 November 2008.

Union Modernisation Fund

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1319W, on the union modernisation fund, for what reasons minutes were not produced for the Supervisory Board meetings.

Patrick McFadden: No minutes are taken at the UMF supervisory board at the request of the board members in line with its terms of reference.

World Economic Forum

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the cost of  (a) flights,  (b) accommodation,  (c) gifts and  (d) other expenses was for the visit by the Secretary of State, the Minister for Economic Competitiveness and Small Business and Minister for Trade, Investment and Consumer Affairs to the Davos summit in January 2009; and how many departmental staff accompanied them.

Patrick McFadden: The BERR Ministers who went to Davos were the Secretary of State, the Minister for Competitiveness and Small Business and the Minister for Trade and Investment.
	Since 1999, the Government have published a list of all overseas travel by Cabinet Ministers costing over 500. Information for the last financial year, 2007-08, was published on 22 July 2008 and for the first time included details in respect of all Ministers. Details for the current financial year will be published as soon as possible after the end of the financial year. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.

JUSTICE

Antisocial Behaviour: Fixed Penalties

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he has plans to provide for penalty notices for disorder to be issued to 10 to 16 year olds; and what conclusions were drawn from the pilot scheme that ran from July 2005 to June 2006.

David Hanson: The evaluation report on penalty notices for disorder (PNDs) for 10 to 15-year-olds was published on 5 November 2008. The report highlighted the benefits of the scheme, such as the impact of PNDs on young people's behaviour and savings in police time. Some of the police forces involved in the pilots are continuing to use PNDs because they consider them an effective tool for dealing with certain offences by this age group. The evaluation report also suggests improvements that could be made to the administration of the scheme. We are discussing the learning from the report with key stakeholders.

Departmental Internet

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether  (a) consultants and  (b) other external staff were engaged to develop and maintain his Department's Youtube video channel.

Jack Straw: No consultants or external staff were engaged to develop and maintain the Ministry of Justice Youtube channel, which we are not actively using at present, and the Youtube channel set up for the Governance of Britain programme which has been used as an embedded mechanism to engage and inform external audiences. Youtube hosts video free of charge.

Departmental Internet

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been spent on video recording equipment for the purposes of providing content for his Department's Youtube video channel.

Jack Straw: A total of 785.34 has been spent on two cameras and a camcorder which are used for ministerial visits and events. These are used for press and media purposes as well as providing content for the Department's Youtube video channel.
	No video recording equipment costs have been incurred for work done for the Governance of Britain Youtube channel.

Departmental Internet

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many staff in each pay grade work on his Department's YouTube video channel;
	(2)  how many staff work on  (a) maintaining and  (b) supplying content for his Department's YouTube video channel.

Jack Straw: We currently have no members of staff who are solely dedicated to work on the YouTube video channels. Ad hoc work has been undertaken but this has minimal resourcing implications and does not constitute an ongoing resource requirement at present.
	In addition to the small proportion of time spent by the permanent staff, some content was supplied by a contractor on a short-term contract as part of other work. This did not constitute a full headcount.

Departmental Internet

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department has paid to website designers for the design of its YouTube video channel.

Jack Straw: No website designers were employed to work on the design of its YouTube channel or of the Governance of Britain Youtube channel, and so no costs were incurred.

Departmental Internet

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost was of producing each video available for the Department's YouTube video channel.

Jack Straw: Videos produced for the Ministry of Justice YouTube channel have been prepared by existing staff and a contractor on a short-term contract as a small part of their work during the year, for example when attending ministerial visits, and because of this it is difficult to separately cost the proportion of work undertaken for the YouTube channel.
	Videos produced for the Governance of Britain YouTube channel were part of a wider programme of work to support the Governance of Britain programme.
	Five of these were produced to provide a record of public regional events in June and July 2008 in Bristol, Brighton, Newcastle, Nottingham and London. The total cost of producing and editing these five videos was 3,965.62
	Four other videos produced as part of the Governance of Britain programme of work were produced by an in house film crew who work for HM Prison Service, and the estimated costs of all four videos amount to 1,434.20.

Departmental Legislation

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what Acts for which his Department has policy responsibility received Royal Assent between 1 May 1997 and 1 January 2009; which provisions of those Acts  (a) have not yet come into force,  (b) have been repealed prior to coming into force and  (c) have been repealed after coming into force; and how many prosecutions have taken place for each offence created under each of those Acts.

Michael Wills: There is currently no central record of the information required. In order to obtain this information, a detailed investigation will need to be undertaken which will take some time. This information is being collated and I will write to the hon. Member as soon as it is available. A copy will be placed in the House Library.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been claimed in reimbursable expenses by special advisers in his Department in 2008-09 to date.

Jack Straw: Between 1 April 2008 and 28 February 2009. a total of 640.85 was claimed in reimbursable expenses by the Department's special advisers.

Departmental Surveys

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on staff surveys in each of the last five years; and which companies were contracted to carry out the surveys.

Michael Wills: There has been one staff survey for the Ministry of Justice since its creation on 9 May 2007. This was a Staff Engagement Survey held in September 2008.
	In 2007-08 30,000 (35,250 inc. VAT) was spent on preparatory work. The cost incurred in 2008-09 was 186,184.70 (212,459.70 inc. VAT).
	Towers Perrin-ISR conducted the survey and ORC International provided the analysis and reporting outputs.

Domestic Violence

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) arrests,  (b) prosecutions and  (c) convictions for offences relating to domestic violence there were in (i) North West Cambridgeshire constituency, (ii) Cambridgeshire, (iii) the East of England and (iv) England and Wales in each of the last 10 years; and what proportion of victims of the offences were (A) male and (B) female.

Vera Baird: I have been asked to reply.
	The following table shows the number of defendants in domestic violence proceedings, prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), whose case was completed in each of the three years for which reliable data are available. The table also shows the number and the proportion which resulted in a conviction and in an unsuccessful outcome.
	No separate data are held for the hon. Member's constituency. The data provided represent the domestic violence cases prosecuted by the Northern Prosecution Team within CPS Cambridgeshire, which covers the city of Peterborough and surrounding villages. These cases comprise part of the data shown in the next section of the table covering the whole of CPS Cambridgeshire. Figures are also provided for the Eastern Group of the CPS, comprising Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk; and for England and Wales as a whole.
	The CPS capacity to record data relating to the gender of victims of crime is under development. In those cases where gender was recorded nationally during 2007-08, 85.7 per cent. of victims of domestic violence were women and 14.3 per cent. were men. No comparable figures are held for CPS Cambridgeshire.
	The information requested on arrests is not collected centrally.
	The arrests collection held by the Home Office covers arrests for recorded crime (notifiable offences) only, broken down at a main offence group level, covering categories such as violence against the person and robbery.
	From these centrally reported data we are not able to identify specific offences from within the main offence groups.
	
		
			  Domestic violence prosecutions 
			   Convictions  Unsuccessful  
			   Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Total prosecutions 
			  Northern Prosecution Team of CPS Cambridgeshire (Peterborough)  
			 2005-06 149 54.2 126 45.8 275 
			 2006-07 152 58.7 107 41.3 259 
			 2007-08 230 64.4 127 35.6 357 
			   
			  CPS Cambridgeshire  
			 2005-06 339 60.8 219 39.2 558 
			 2006-07 412 65.5 217 34.5 629 
			 2007-08 476 68.6 218 31.4 694 
			   
			  CPS Eastern Group( 1)  
			 2005-06 2,043 62.8 1,211 37.2 3,254 
			 2006-07 2,320 70.1 988 29.9 3,308 
			 2007-08 2,654 74.5 909 25.5 3,563 
			  CPS England and Wales  
			 2005-06 29,719 59.7 20,063 40.3 49,782 
			 2006-07 37,383 65.2 19,978 34.8 57,361 
			 2007-08 43,977 68.9 19,842 31.1 63,819 
			 (1 )Comprising Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what steps his Department has taken to encourage electoral registration officers to obtain information from other local government databases to improve their electoral registers;
	(2)  if he will bring forward proposals to amend data protection legislation to allow the exchange of information between local authority departments for purposes of compilation of the electoral register; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Wills: Electoral Registration Officers are required to take all steps that are necessary for the purpose of complying with their duty to maintain the electoral registers, and these steps include inspecting any record which the ERO is permitted to inspect by law.
	The Electoral Commission has issued guidance to EROs encouraging them to use the power to inspect records and advises on the sources that may be inspected, which will help EROs to obtain and cross-check information to assist them in their registration duties. In addition, the Commission has published a final set of Performance Standards for Electoral Registration Officers in Great Britain in July 2008. These standards require EROs to provide information on their use of the databases available to them. The Commission intends to publish the results of ERO self-assessments against the performance standards in spring 2009.
	The Government remain concerned about the need to address levels of under-registration in Great Britain. To this end, we have recently tabled amendments to the Political Parties and Elections Bill that will allow the Secretary of State to pilot data matching schemes, under which public authorities will provide registration officers with information to assist them in maintaining an accurate and comprehensive register. In addition, we plan to introduce secondary legislation to enable EROs in areas where there are two-tiers of local government to access data held by the higher tier to help them identify individuals who are not registered to vote. This will mirror arrangements in place for EROs in single tier areas.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  which local authorities  (a) do and  (b) do not give turnout targets for their electoral registration departments as part of their corporate policy goals;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of people eligible to but not registered to vote in each region of the UK;
	(3)  if he will commission further research into the reasons for low levels of voter registration;
	(4)  if he will  (a) issue guidelines to local authorities on how to increase voter registration and  (b) regularly publish a league table of the local authorities in respect of levels of voter registration they achieve; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Wills: Issuing guidelines to electoral registration officers (EROs) on how to increase electoral registration falls within the remit of the Electoral Commission. The current guidelines, published in February 2008, include advice on the activities that EROs should undertake to comply with their duty to take all steps that are necessary to maintain the electoral register, including sending the annual canvass form more than once, making house to house inquiries in connection with the canvass, making contact by such other means as the ERO thinks appropriate with a person who does not have an entry in the register, and inspecting any record that the ERO is permitted by law to inspect.
	The Government have not made an estimate of the number of people eligible, but not registered, to vote, in each region of the UK and there are currently no plans to commission research into low levels of registration. However, in their research report, Understanding Electoral Registration, published in September 2005, the Electoral Commission estimated that 3.5 million eligible electors were not registered to vote.
	Since this report was published the number of people registered to vote in the UK as reported by the Office for National Statistics has continued to increase. Following the 2007 annual canvass the number of parliamentary electors grew by 307,669 to 45,082,854 and the number of local government electors grew by 463,340 to 45,920,503. In 2008, the number of parliamentary electors grew by 111,595 to 45,194,449 and the number of local government electors grew by 227,374 to 46,147,877.
	The Government remain concerned about the need to address levels of under-registration in Great Britain. To this end, we have recently tabled amendments to the Political Parties and Elections Bill that will allow the Secretary of State to pilot data matching schemes under which public authorities will provide registration officers with information to assist them in maintaining an accurate and comprehensive register. In addition, we plan to introduce secondary legislation to enable EROs in areas where there are two tiers of local government to be able to access data held by the higher tier to help them identify individuals who are not registered to vote. This will mirror arrangements in place for EROs in single tier areas.
	The Government have no current plans to produce a league table of electoral registration officers' performance in respect of registration rates. However, the performance standards framework established by the Electoral Administration Act 2006 provides for the Electoral Commission to set and monitor performance standards for electoral administrators, including EROs.
	The Electoral Commission published a final set of performance standards for Electoral Registration Officers in Great Britain in July 2008. details of which have been laid before the House. The Commission will publish the results of EROs' self-assessments against the standards in spring 2009.
	It is not known which local authorities (a) do and (b) do not give turnout targets for their electoral registration departments as part of their corporate policy goals as this is not collected centrally.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many electoral registration staff in each local authority area have a recognised national certificate or diploma; and what plans he has to encourage electoral registration staff to study for such qualifications.

Michael Wills: Working in partnership with key stakeholders, including the Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA), the Electoral Commission (EC) undertook to produce a set of National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Electoral Registration Officers. A final set of NOS for this group of workers was approved by Skills Plus in August 2007.
	Information on the number of electoral registration staff in each local authority area who have a recognised national certificate or diploma is not collected centrally and to do so now would result in disproportionate costs as each authority would have to be contacted individually. However, the following numbers have been awarded since 1997 when the AEA Qualification (which is now linked to NOS) was launched:
	 AEA Certificate
	England/Wales296
	Scotland42
	 AEA Diploma
	England/Wales/Scotland30
	The Qualification was only launched in Northern Ireland in 2008.
	While it is for each local authority to identify their employees' training needs, officials from the Ministry of Justice will meet with representatives from the EC and AEA to see if there is anything we can do to help encourage electoral registration staff to study for such qualifications.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will assess the merits of using  (a) council tax registration,  (b) census and  (c) labour force survey data to augment the electoral register; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Wills: Electoral registration officers (ERO) are authorised to inspect the records kept by the local authority that appointed them, and those kept by any registrar of births and deaths, for the purpose of their registration duties. Those records include council tax records. By virtue of provision made in the Electoral Administration Act 2006, EROs are required to make such use of these powers as are necessary to comply with their duty of maintaining electoral registers. The Government remains concerned about the need to address levels of under-registration in Great Britain. To this end, the Government tabled amendments to the Political Parties and Elections Bill that we accepted at Commons report that will allow the Secretary of State to pilot data matching schemes under which public authorities will provide registration officers with information to assist them in maintaining an accurate and comprehensive register.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent per elector on voter registration in each local authority area ranked in descending order of expenditure for the last year in which figures are available.

Michael Wills: As my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Bridget Prentice) explained in answer to a similar question from the hon. Member on 18 June 2008, (Official Report, columns 999-1000W), funding for electoral registration activities such as advertising is included in the local authority formula grant issued by central Government. Once these funds are allocated, decisions on how they are utilised are a matter for the local authorities concerned. It is not known how much was spent in total or per elector for electoral registration in each local authority area, as these figures are not collected, and therefore no rankings are available. There has been no recent UK-wide assessment of the trends in the annual expenditure of local authority electoral registration officers. However, as part of its work in developing Performance Standards for electoral services, the Electoral Commission launched a financial information survey across Great Britain on 10 September 2007. Electoral Registration Officers and Returning Officers were asked to complete the survey and return it by 31 July 2008. The Commission is currently analysing this information in conjunction with CIPFA (the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants) and will publish results in due course.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment his Department has made of the main reasons for non-registration of voters.

Michael Wills: The Government have not commissioned or evaluated any recent research on the reasons for non-registration. However, the Government did utilise some existing research concerning the attitudes and motivations of the electorate, as commissioned by the then Department of Constitutional Affairs in 2005, as a basis for further work towards identifying an evidence base for policy development and service targets in the electoral field.
	The Electoral Commission found in their report, 'Understanding Electoral Registration', published in September 2005 that the most likely electors not to be registered to vote included young people, those residing in private rented accommodation and those belonging to certain minority ethnic groups.
	Section 9 of the Electoral Administration Act 2006 placed a new, explicit duty on Electoral Registration Officers (ERO) to take all steps that are necessary for the purpose of complying with their duty to maintain the registers. These steps include sending the annual canvass form more than once, making house to house inquiries in connection with the canvass, making contact by such other means as the ERO thinks appropriate with a person who does not have an entry in the register, and inspecting records that the ERO is permitted to inspect, which should help to tackle under-registration.
	The Government remain concerned about the need to address levels of under-registration in Great Britain. To this end. we have recently tabled amendments to the Political Parties and Elections Bill, that will allow the Secretary of State to pilot data matching schemes, under which public authorities will provide registration officers with information to assist them in maintaining an accurate and comprehensive register. In addition, we plan to introduce secondary legislation to enable EROs in areas where there are two tiers of local government to be able to access data held by the higher tier to help them identify individuals who are not registered to vote. This will mirror arrangements in place for EROs in single tier areas.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what guidelines have been issued on follow-up procedures to be used by electoral registration officers in relation to individuals who have failed to register; whether he plans to amend those guidelines; and if he will introduce a duty on local authority canvassers to visit people eligible to but who do not register to vote.

Michael Wills: The Electoral Administration Act 2006 introduced a new, explicit requirement for Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to take all steps that are necessary for the purpose of complying with their duty to maintain the electoral registers. These steps, as set out in the legislation, include sending the canvass form more than once, making house to house inquiries in connection with the canvass, making contact by such other means as the ERO thinks appropriate with a person who does not have an entry in the register, and inspecting any record that the ERO is permitted by law to inspect. There are, therefore, already requirements on EROs to make contact with people who are not included on the register where necessary. We are happy to keep under review ways in which the duty could be made more explicit in a way that would be useful.
	Issuing guidelines for EROs falls within the Electoral Commission's remit and they published a guidance manual on all aspects of managing electoral registration to support EROs in Great Britain on 24 February 2008. This manual is regularly updated and specifically deals with matters in relation to undertaking an annual canvass, the appointment of canvassers and the requirement to make house visits to non-responding households.

Freedom of Information

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will bring forward legislative proposals to repeal section 53(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Michael Wills: The Government have no plans to bring forward legislative proposals to repeal section 53(2) of the Freedom of Information Act.

Government's Trading Funds Review

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what consultation his Department has conducted with external organisations as part of the review of Government Trading Funds;
	(2)  what discussions his Department has had with Treasury officials on the future of the Land Registry as part of the Government's Trading Fund Review; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what discussions his Department has had with the Shareholder Executive as part of the Government's Trading Fund Review; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Wills: The Ministry of Justice have not consulted external organisations as part of the review of Government trading funds, prior to the emerging findings of the study being reported at Budget 2009. However, officials leading the trading funds assessment held discussions with interested public, private and third sector organisations in helping to develop the work of the study.
	MOJ officials are, however, fully involved in continuing discussions with HM Land Registry, the Shareholder Executive and Treasury as part of the trading funds assessment.

Jean Charles de Menezes

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what his latest estimate is of the cost of the de Menezes inquest; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 9 December 2008,  Official Report, column 405, on the de Menezes inquest, what discussions he has had with the London boroughs of Southwark, Lambeth, Lewisham and Greenwich on sharing the cost of the inquest; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: The estimated cost at 17 December 2008 is 2.157 million although this figure is not final. The Government have agreed that this inquest is exceptional and financial support to the local authorities will therefore be provided. Officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office are now discussing the details with the local authorities.

Prison Sentences

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the  (a) shortest,  (b) longest and  (c) average sentence tariff handed down to offenders sentenced to indeterminate sentences for public protection was in (i) 2007 and (ii) 2008.

David Hanson: In 2007 the shortest tariff handed down to a prisoner sentenced to an indeterminate sentence for public protection was 28 days. The longest tariff was 11 years and 11 days. The average tariff was two years and 348 days.
	In 2008 the shortest tariff was 39 days. The longest tariff was 14 years and 235 days. The average tariff was three years and 140 days.
	The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 introduced changes to the sentencing framework for indeterminate sentenced for public protection. The amendments introduced a minimum tariff of two years below which an indeterminate sentence for public protection cannot be given except where offenders have committed extremely serious crimes in the past. These changes apply to cases sentenced on or after 14 July 2008.
	These figures are taken from the Public Protection Unit Database within the National Offender Management Service. As with any large scale recording system, it is subject to possible errors arising from either data entry or processing.

Prisoners Release

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much expenditure has been incurred by  (a) prison governors and  (b) his Department making subsistence payments to offenders on end-of-custody licence.

Jack Straw: The End of Custody Licence (ECL) scheme was announced on 19 June 2007 and came into effect on 29 June. The available information covers the period from 1 July 2007 to 31 December 2008 and is set out in the following table.
	
		
			
			 Paid direct to prisoners by Prison Governors and Directors of contracted out prisons 2,368,300 
			 Paid to prisoners by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) on behalf of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) 3,115,874 
			 Paid to DWP by NOMS for provision of the payment service 428,957 
			 Total Expenditure 5,913,131 
		
	
	When the ECL scheme was first introduced, offenders released for the maximum of 18 days received their subsistence payments in instalments through the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), who make payments on behalf of the Ministry of Justice. Prisoners released for less than 18 days were paid in full by prisons on release. From 23 June 2008, payment in instalments by DWP was extended to prisoners spending 15 days or more on ECL. From 15 December, payment in instalments by DWP has been further extended to offenders spending 8 days or more on ECL. The advantage of the system of payments through DWP is that prisoners receive their subsistence in instalments rather than in a single lump sum.
	The administrative costs incurred in individual prisons in arranging payments cannot be separately identified as the work is carried out as part of the wider discharge process.

Prisons: Drugs

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which prisons in England and Wales have the integrated drug treatment system (IDTS) in operation; and in those prisons, how many and what proportion of prisoners with an identified need for IDTS do not have access to it.

David Hanson: From 2006-08 onwards 29 prisons receive both NOMS and DH funding for full IDTS. A further 24 receive DH funding for enhanced prison clinical drug treatment only. In 2008-09, a further 38 prison/PCT partnerships received funding for enhanced prison clinical drug treatment.
	All 53 first and second waves of Integrated Drug Treatment System (IDTS) prisons have an operational service providing all key elements of IDTS clinical services.
	The 91 prisons currently funded are listed.
	 IDTS 2006-07 first wavefull IDTS (NOMS and DH) (18)
	 Prison
	Doncaster
	Foston Hall
	Nottingham
	Ranby
	Chelmsford
	Wormwood Scrubs
	Low Newton
	Styal
	Dorchester
	Eastwood Park
	Gloucester
	Highdown
	Bullingdon
	Birmingham
	Featherstone
	Hull
	Moorland (Closed)
	Moorland (Open)
	 IDTS 2006-07 first waveclinical element of IDTS (DH) (27)
	 Prison
	Brixton
	Stafford
	Onley
	Rye Hill
	The Mount
	High Point
	Edmonds Hill
	Wayland
	Coldingley
	Blundeston
	Acklington
	Durham
	Lindholme
	Everthorpe
	Wolds
	Deerbolt
	Northallerton
	Guys Marsh
	Dartmoor
	Erlestoke
	Wealstun
	Haverigg
	Stocken
	Ashwell
	Sudbury
	North Sea Camp
	Lowdham Grange
	Standford Hill
	 IDTS 2007-08 second waveclinical element of IDTS (DH) (7)
	Elmley
	Maidstone
	Rochester
	Swaleside
	Channings Wood
	Bristol
	Portland
	 IDTS 2007-08 second wavepsychosocial elements of IDTS (NOMS) (11)
	Ashwell
	Everthorpe
	Lindholme
	Wealstun
	Durham
	Edmunds Hill
	Elmley
	Highpoint
	Bristol
	Brixton
	Guys Marsh
	 IDTS 2008-09 third waveclinical element of IDTS (DH) (38)
	Altcourse
	Buckley Hall
	Forest Bank
	Garth
	Kennet
	Kirkham
	Lancaster Castle
	Liverpool
	Manchester
	Preston
	Risley
	Wymott
	Bronzefield
	Camp Hill
	Downview
	Lewes
	Reading
	Bedford
	Hollesley Bay
	Norwich
	Peterborough(Male/Female)
	Whitemoor
	Exeter
	Belmarsh
	Pentonville
	Holme House
	Blakenhurst
	Brockhill
	Dovegate
	Drake Hall
	Hewell Grange
	Shrewsbury
	Stoke Heath
	Leeds
	New Hall
	Leicester
	Lincoln
	Wellingborough

Prisons: Religious Practice

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were banned from attending religious services in each prison in England and Wales on the most recent date for which information is available; what the reason for the ban was in each case; and if he will make a statement.

Shahid Malik: Information on this is not collected or collated centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Prisoners are free to attend corporate worship for the faith in which they are registered subject to certain specified circumstances set out in Prison Service Order 4550, a copy of which is in the House Library.

Prisons: Security

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which prisons in England and Wales have Boss body-scanning chairs in operation.

David Hanson: The following prisons currently use one or more Body Orifice security scanner:
	HMP Altcourse
	HMP Belmarsh
	HMP Brixton
	HMP/YOI Chelmsford
	HMP/YOI Doncaster
	HMP Dovegate
	HMP Frankland
	HMP Full Sutton
	HMP Lowdham Grange
	HMP Long Lartin
	HMP Manchester
	HMP/YOI Pare
	HMP Rye Hill
	HMP Wakefield
	HMP Wandsworth
	HMP Whitemoor
	HMP Woodhill
	The Government response to David Blakey's report, Disrupting the Supply of Illicit Drugs into Prisons, published in July 2008, committed to providing all prisons with BOSS chairs. The chairs have now been procured and will be distributed during March.

Public Interest Immunity Certificates

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many public interest immunity certificates Ministers in his Department have signed since the Department was established; and what matters such certificates relate to.

Michael Wills: No Ministry of Justice Minister has signed a public interest immunity certificate since the department was created in May 2007.

Women's Prisons

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what account was taken of the recommendations of the Corston Report in the redesignation of HMP/YOI Drake Hall and HMP Morton Hall.

David Hanson: The re-designate of HMP/YOI Drake Hall and HMP/YOI Morton Hall as closed prisons takes account of Baroness Corston's recommendation of the establishment of multi-functional units close to population centres. I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer of 23 January 2009,  Official Report; column 360W.
	The effect of the change allows for greater flexibility in the use of the estate; improving closeness to home and families for some women, allowing appropriate lifer and indeterminate sentenced women to be placed so as to better meet their needs, and in general enable more women to access the resettlement regimes available at the two prisons.